Daryl's Game
by krissyg927
Summary: This is a Daryl/OC one shot. It's just something that came to me so I went with it, down a dark but fun path. Hope you enjoy. Be sure to read the authors note before venturing into Daryl's Game.
1. Chapter 1

**_Ok. This is Daryl/OFC ZA. Before anyone gets their panties in a wad this is about bondage, if that is not interesting to you, just move on now. I like to challenge myself as a writer so sometimes these things happen. Daryl is a little predatory in this and I am not sorry, also there is nothing redeeming about this at all. It's a smut show. I have a thang for season two Daryl so here we go._**

Lisbeth watched him because he was truly beautiful with his sandy blonde hair and the scowl he always wore except when he was with her. The face he wore with her was tender and loving, when they were alone, like they were now. He didn't have it in him to be that way in front of people and she understood. She understood him completely.

God he was beautiful though.

Beautiful like a working man, hard and sinewy in all the right ways. He was irresistible, and from day one she had not been able to say no to him for anything. She trusted him, otherwise she wouldn't be letting him tie her to the bed right now. While everyone slept in the various rooms nearby in Herschel Greene's big farmhouse.

That trust was well earned because he had saved her life on more than one occasion. First in Atlanta, just minutes after he had found out his brother was gone, he took responsibility for her well-being then and maybe forever. She had been hiding in the department store with a group of people that all had been killed.

They were six and one by one they had been picked off by the walkers that were already there, and one person died from an infected diabetic foot ulcer. They had run out of medicine and they were left helpless to watch her die and turn. Lisbeth had killed the last walker, who used to be her PA three days before she met Daryl.

She had hidden from the first group of people from his camp, but Daryl had found her. He had known someone who was alive was there as soon as they got there. The pots and pans in the kitchen where Merle burned his would had fresh Mac and Cheese in them. He was observant.

The pretty brunette was a doctor in the other world and she had stayed at the hospital until she couldn't anymore and she and her fellow staff beat it out of there when all was lost and ended up in the department store. She had heard the fight, between the sheriff and Daryl's brother and the car alarm as the young boy drove the hot rod Camaro to lead the walkers away.

Lisbeth had hidden that whole time, but then they came back and the man with the crossbow had stopped a walker from eating her for lunch in the housewares department. She had run up onto the roof and he followed her calling her every name in the book on the way up.

He called her a dumbass for staying there alone and she told him to fuck off. They had a screaming match up there that probably brought every walker in Atlanta down on them and finally he grabbed her and put his hand over her mouth to shut her up.

"Will you be still before every dead thing in town comes up here, you crazy bitch." She replied by biting his hand and he let her go without haste.

"God dammit." He said shaking his hurting hand and going for her arm. "I'm trying to save your stupid life here."

"Fuck you." She said. "I'm fine."

This girl was a fucking bitch and he did not have time for this, but he couldn't leave a woman out in this world alone. The next guy to come along might not be so nice.

"Not even a thank you?"

She smiled at him. "Thank you, OK? Don't be such a jerkoff." And she walked away towards the door to the roof.

Then she turned back. "I saw him."

"Saw who?" Daryl had snapped at her.

"The man you're looking for, he's alive."

"Which way did he go?"

She pointed off in the general direction that the others he was with had gone and he grabbed her hand. Daryl had just made the best decision of his life.

"Come-on, you aint staying here alone. We got a camp, other women."

She eyed him suspiciously and he gave her a look of pure disgust. "Aint like that, there's women and children there, come on. It's safe."

That was the first time he saved her.

The second was at the CDC when she had totally missed the whole exchange between Jenner and the others because she was sleeping off a hangover. She and Lori Grimes had gotten trashed the night before and Daryl had to carry her back to their room. It wouldn't be the last time he had to do that too. Lisbeth and Lori were tight, good friends and he was glad she had another woman to talk to.

Maybe brunettes had to stick together, he had thought, they were the only two in the group at that time. Later they met Maggie Greene but at that time it was just Lori and Lisbeth who had hit it off so well.

They had hit it off so well that his girlfriend had been passed out and missed all of the Jenner drama.

He had come back for her and woke her up, way down the hall in the opposite direction of their escape.

He could have left her to die, but he didn't.

"Wake up Lizzie, we gotta go." He said as he threw their clothes into a backpack because by that time they were together after two weeks of dancing around the attraction they felt in the quarry and on the road to the CDC. When it came time to chooses rooms he just took her hand and said. "You're with me."

And so she was.

But he could have left her there, they had just missed being pulverized by the CDC computer induced explosion. It would have been smarter of him to just run like everyone else, he had run, right to her. The old Daryl wouldn't leave an innocent woman behind and the new post turn Daryl didn't because she was his girl now.

So did Lisbeth trust him to tie her to the bed they shared in the room next to Maggie's in the big white farmhouse, the answer was yes, she trusted him with everything.

If anyone had told Daryl a year ago that he would be living commune style with a group of essentially yuppies in a big beautiful farmhouse and in a relationship with a doctor he would have laughed himself silly.

But the dead walked the earth now and the old world was gone. Lisbeth didn't care who he was before, only about who he was now and that freed him for so many things. He could rise above the label of redneck or trailer trash and hold his head up high.

He did that too, but right now his head wanted to get between her long beautiful legs. After he had secured her arms above her head to the head board her got up on his knees between her legs. He had not tied them and he ran his hands over her thighs and she hissed a breath out.

"Shhhhhh." He said with a finger to his lips. "If you can't be quiet I'll gag you." He said sliding down to her foot and tying it to the bed rail with a silk tie. Then he came to her other foot and held it up, with her legs spread like this he had a great view of her lacy red panties, just under the matching red tank top she wore. She didn't have a bra on and he could see the outline of her nipples through the material. It was driving him crazy.

He licked his lips looking at her that way, with her legs spread and her arms tied to the head board. Her whole body on display for him.

She watched his eyes grow dark, his pupils blown wide as he looked at her. He rested her foot against the side of his face and bit softly on the pad of her foot. She arched her back and let out the softest of sighs and then he sucked on each one of her toes.

Daryl watched as she writhed on the bed, trying hard to muffle her sounds and failing miserably. That was something he loved about her, when there wasn't someone sleeping on the other side of the wall that is.

Lisbeth always came like a freight train and it was a full body and auditory event, and he would be lying if he said he didn't think it was hot as fuck. Before the turn he slept around some and picked up pointers from Merle, but even this was out of Merle's wheelhouse.

 _And she had asked him to do it._

Of course he said yes, it was like his kinkiest dreams had just come true. He had found the expensive silk ties when they had raided one of the fancier stores in town and he had grabbed a handful. Lisbeth had already told him she wanted it, so when he came back from the run and he pulled them out of his back pack she about lost her mind.

"Lisbeth." He cautioned, sliding his tongue over the arch of her foot on purpose and she moaned again. "I will gag you."

Then he took that foot and tied it down, grinning down at her. He was between her legs still and he ran his hands over her legs slowly.

"I can't wait." He kissed behind her knee, licking her skin and sucking softly. "To taste you." Then his lips were on her thigh. "I know you're sweet."

His lips were on her thigh, but his hands were playing with the lacy waistband of her panties. He intended to drag this out until she was so wound up that she levitated off the fucking bed. He skimmed down her panties with his thumb, and was delighted to find her wet already.

This excited her and so it excited him. But knowing she was responding to him already just about made him cum right there.

"Oh, you dirty girl." He groaned sliding his thumb across the material as she squeaked and tried to open her legs wider. "You're soaked and I aint even touched ya yet."

Then he took his hand away and she let out a discontented breath. "Daryl." She hissed and he just sat on his knees and ran his hands up and down her inner thighs. Every third or fourth swipe he would dip his thumbs over her panties and take them away, grinning down at her.

"I love how fuckin wet you are…" He said quietly still torturing her with occasional swipes of his thumbs where she wanted them, but he always took it away. He brought his face closer to hers, his eyes now dark with desire, as she was sure her own were. "First I'm going to touch you." He kissed her once and she lifted her head searching for more. He moved just out of her reach, and she slammed her head back on the pillow. "Then I'm going to eat you, and if you haven't used your safe word by then?" He kissed her again, licking her lips this time before pulling away. "If you haven't cracked by then? I'm going to fuck you until you cum buckets all over this nice quilt here."

Lisbeth was on fire and he was the only one who could put it out. Working in the ER for years and being in control all the time at work made her yearn to give up control just a little bit to another person. She had not found that person until that day in the store when that walker was about to chow down on her and it got an arrow through the head for its trouble.

"Oh God." She moaned out as she felt his fingers edging into her panties. He stopped again, leaving his fingers there, but he didn't move them. She was sure he could feel the incessant throbbing between her legs. "I'm gonna fuck you so good baby."

"Who's the boss of you?" He said, traveling his finger up towards her clit, but stopping just short of it.

"You are." She said, her wrists straining at the ties. She tried in vain to move her lower body to get his fingers where she wanted them.

"Don't move." He said, placing a hand on her stomach to make sure she stayed put. Then he slid a finger inside of her, the tension between them was so high it had his dick straining out of his pants. But he was a patient man, and he had self-control.

Her legs were trembling slightly and he looked down towards the ties and he slid another finger inside her. Lisbeth groaned out her approval of that and arched her back again. He said he'd never done this before but she was doubtful now, he was pretty good at getting her all worked up and leaving her right on the edge.

"Not too tight?"

"I'm fine." She answered. "But… I need…"

"What do you need baby?" He whispered hotly to her.

"I need to cum." She answered.

He grinned. "I know baby, you will." He pulled his fingers out. "When I say you can." Then he slid them over her clit so lightly she mewed in protest and tried to move against his fingers. The repeated the process a few times with his fingers inside her, gliding his thumb over her clit once and pulling his fingers out. Her eyes were rolled back in her head and she was breathing heavier and heavier, her hips moving against his hand seeking out relief.

"Ah, ah sweetheart, if you cum before I say you can, I'm going to punish you." He said and she stopped moving, he reached for her underwear and pulled up on it slightly, gazing into her eyes. He could tell all the dirty talk was getting to her as it always did.

Daryl often wondered what kind of stuffy, buttoned up men she had been with before. She was what Merle called a firecracker in the sack. He knew the minute he untied her she would fuck his brains out and right into the mattress. Contrary to what most people thought, he was quite experienced with the fairer sex, and most definitely not a virgin.

He pulled her underwear again, letting it glide over her and she sighed like a contented cat. "Mmmmmm…Daryl." She sighed out his name like a prayer. "Yes…."

"Don't' cum or I'll spank that ass of yours." He ran his hands over her stomach and breasts and watched her breathing start to quicken. Her dark curly hair was fanned out on the pillow like a crown and she looked so lovely.

Whatever he had done to deserve her, he would do it again, and be grateful the turn brought her to him. He let his palms linger on her breasts, feeling her nipples harden at his touch.

"Please…" She moaned quietly. "Stop dicking around."

Then his face was where his hand had been and he licked her through the material of her shirt until there was a huge wet spot and she was teetering on the edge yet again.

"Do you want it?" He purred as his hands traveled lower on her body followed by his lips. "Tell me how bad you want it."

"So bad baby." She breathed out. "So bad."

His lips stopped at her stomach and he dipped his tongue into her belly button as he yanked her underwear off with one motion and threw them over his shoulder. Lisbeth grinned down at him and he saw something in her face.

 _She was in love with him, he was sure of it._

Slowly he kissed down her stomach and over her hip, taking a look at her and giving her a wicked grin just before he shoved his face between her legs. He licked her with the flat of his tongue and her legs trembled at the feeling. Daryl ate pussy like it was his day job and she knew he wasn't going to leave he hanging much longer.

Lisbeth could feel the fire that had been low key burning in her gut start to ignite and spread all through her body. She tingled from head to toe as he slid his tongue against her and now it was he that was groaning.

"Fuck me you taste like fresh peaches." He said bringing his head up for a moment and them going right back to work. He swirled his tongue around and brought her to the edge only to stop two more times, and she was cursing him by that time.

"You wanna cum baby?" He asked quietly and she nodded her head.

"Please, please, please." She begged and he felt his dick twitch at her words and not for the first time that night.

"Alright, you've been a good girl haven't you?" He said spreading her thighs wider.

"Yes…" She moaned.

"So you should get your reward…" He said and then he was full on licking and sucking his way from one side of her to the next. It didn't take long, just as he predicted because he had edged her so much in the build-up. He knew she was going to explode in seconds and he wished he could see her face.

He knew how soft her features were when she was almost there, the deep red flush that came over her chest and he loved seeing that. He loved watching her creamy white skin flushed from what he was doing and the love drunk look on her face when she came.

From the top of her head to her toes it spread through her like a wild fire and she wanted to scream her head right off, but she couldn't. She could control that, but she couldn't control the tremors and waves of pleasure that went through her body.

Daryl stayed between her legs and felt the convulsions of her body around his fingers but he watched her cum. There wasn't anything better in this world than watching your girl, totally losing it and knowing it was because of what you had done.

He rose up on his knees and unbuckle his pants, never breaking eye contact with her. She could see his dick straining to be released and he watched he lick her lips.

"You want me to untie you so we can fuck proper?" He asked and she nodded. In one swift move he had untied both her hands, the ties had been in bows. Then his feet were on the floor and he shucked off his jeans and untied her feet.

He had just gotten his pants off and her body slammed against him and her arms wrapped around his neck. She kissed him hard and pried his lips open fiercely with hers, shoving her tongue into his mouth. As she devoured his mouth with hers she was able to get him on his back on the bed, although they were laying across it.

Lisbeth didn't seem to care, she crawled over him and slid down on his dick before he knew what happened. He quickly got with the program and placed his hand on her hips as she fucked him into the mattress, as advertised.

"Fuck yes, Lisbeth, ride it baby." He groaned as he felt the tidal wave of pleasure but also emotion taking over him as he looked up at her.

She was a wild thing with her hair going all over the place and sweat a thin sheen all over her skin. The most beautiful woman he had ever seen or been with. He couldn't stop looking at her and into her eyes and he couldn't hold back another second. He came in a rush, fighting to keep quiet although he knew people could probably hear them, they hadn't been as quiet as they wanted.

She arched her back and pushed into him as he let go and emptied every bit of himself into her. He had never come so hard in his life.

"I love you sweetheart." He said later as they lay together on the bed, his hands playing with her hair as her head rested on his chest.

"I love you too."

The next day he and Rick were due to go on a run, two towns away. He knew there was the kind of store there that he wanted. Even though it didn't mean the same as it did before the turn, he wanted it, tomorrow he was going to grab two wedding bands.


	2. Chapter 2- Glycerine

Glycerine

 ** _I like my body when it is with your body, it is so quite a new thing. Muscles better and nerves more. I like your body, I like what it does, I like it's how's, I like to feel the spine of your body and its bones and the trembling firm smoothness and which I will again and again and again kiss._** **** ** _ee cummings_**

 ** _Must be your skin that I'm sinking in, must be for real cause now I can feel._** **** ** _Glycerine by Bush_**

Everyone at the prison would be shocked that 'Glycerine' was his favorite song but it was. He had told Lisbeth one night while they sat in the tower with their legs hanging down over the edge, looking up at the clear night sky, with the stars and the moon.

Daryl told her all manner of things, because she was his person now. He never had that before, and really she never did either.

They met by chance or fate or whatever one wanted to call it. But they met and that was the important thing.

Daryl and Lisbeth talked to each other all the time, about everything and about nothing.

He told her all about the stars, long ago but she always asked him to tell her more. She loved to hear about anything he had to say. And he told her 'Glycerine' was his absolute favorite song ever. It was mutual, Daryl was in awe of her, of how smart she was, and she taught him things too.

How to stop bleeding in three different ways, how to tell a viral infection from a bacterial, about what medications to use for each.

It was give and take for them, in every way.

They had been there since eleven and would be there until Maggie and Glenn relieved them at six. It was always quiet, but still a good idea to have people on watch, just in case.

Everyone knew you couldn't be too careful. It was a new world now, with new rules and no consequences for the evil that was out there. That was just the way it was now.

It was a quiet night as usual, no lights from the city, no airplanes no noise except for the night creatures, making their music and singing their songs. There was nothing else out there and they were grateful for the quiet and that there was no trouble coming.

They had some of their best talks on watch, in the middle of the night and Rick always had the married couples work together. There were people on the committee that disagreed with that philosophy, but they didn't know Daryl, the way Rick did. He was not letting Lisbeth out of his sight and they had each-others backs completely.

Rick felt like a man, any man would protect his wife and like-wise the wife would do the same. There was no better team in his eyes. Maggie and Glenn would do the same. He protected Lori the same way and their kids, so he understood.

People worried because Lisbeth was the only doctor besides Herschel, and if something happened to her, they would all be stuck but she refused to let Daryl do watch alone. And he refused to be more than two feet away from her most of the time.

 _I got a woman I can't stand to be two feet away from._

Rick kidded him with that line from "A Perfect Storm' all the time. _Son, you've got a problem._

It was a hot July night, almost midnight and they were talking about concerts. Sometimes they talked about books and movies, and once or twice about poetry.

Daryl and Lisbeth talked over everything and always had, from the first time they met in the department store in Atlanta. It had been slow going with them at first but by the time they got to the CDC they were a couple.

They were essentially married now; they wore rings that he had gotten on a run back when they lived on the Greene Farm, before it was over run and they had to run for their lives. They had gotten separated that night, Lisbeth ending up in the truck with T-dog, Lori and Beth and Daryl ending up finding Carol as he drove back and forth in front of the farm looking for Lisbeth.

Carol had assured him that his girl was a survivor and they had finally left the farm and Daryl and Lisbeth reunited on the road with the others. It was then that he decided they would never be separated again and they weren't.

But then they found the prison and life was almost normal. Normal enough to be married. They were just simple platinum bands but they meant the world to her, and to him, they were everything. There was no ceremony, they simply put on the rings.

There was a time in her life when she didn't think she'd ever meet the one, and that had been before the turn. The odds fell drastically after that, because she was all alone.

She had been on her own in the department store when the end of the world came and brought a man with a crossbow to her.

He was different in every way, but she suspected that only she knew the real him. And he surprised her at every turn.

Lisbeth had been surprised when Daryl recited an ee cummings poem direct from memory one night. It wasn't that she didn't think he liked poetry, or that he didn't know it, but he was a self-proclaimed unromantic man. But that changed, when he met the girl with the green eyes and the dark curly hair.

It was 'I like my body' and he had been kissing his way down _her body at that time._ He was so different with her and it was new for him too. He could be gentle and sweet or he could be rough and sexual; and she'd take him either way. That particular night he had sat her down in a chair in the cell they shared with the blankets put up for privacy.

Daryl had blindfolded her and told her to sit in the chair and not to move, and she didn't. Then he ran his lips and tongue all over her body while reciting those words to her. But he wasn't a romantic man, she might have made him that way.

Tonight they were talking about bands, who was good and who wasn't so much. They agreed mostly, but there was a discrepancy over Nine Inch Nails, she liked them, he didn't, and Brad Paisley, also she liked him and he didn't.

Daryl seemed to like grunge, a throwback from his teen years, she supposed. Nirvana, The Red Hot Chili Peppers and Bush. What she wouldn't have given to know him then. If they could have been teenagers together before the world went to shit. They had been ten miles apart their whole lives they figured out one day and never laid eyes on each other.

He had even been to the ER she headed, with Merle of course, who had sliced his finger and needed stitches, but she had not been the doctor who saw him. She had been occupied intubating a patient with a heroin overdose on the other side of the ER at the time. She had saved the girl's life, her name was Meghan and she had come back to thank her afterwards. It had been an accident and Lisbeth helped her get into rehab after that.

Meghan was likely dead now, and maybe not from drugs.

They had been in the same room and never laid eyes on each other. She had walked past the pulled curtain that had her destiny behind it and never even knew it.

Each of them going about their business never knowing about the other and then five years later the dead rose.

They didn't meet until they were supposed to, they figured, they had both been at the same Blink 182 concert in 2001, likely walked right past each other.

Life was funny that way, putting the same person in your path over and over again until you finally saw them.

He had seen Bush twelve times and Lisbeth was no slouch either, when she was in college she spent a summer managing some no name band she was friends with as they traveled the circuit with Lollapalooza.

The band had broken up and she went back to college, Daryl had seen a few other bands, but Bush was his favorite. As they sat there looking out over the prison yard that had become their home they talked about music. They agreed on music and so much more.

Merle liked 'The Ramones' and Lisbeth laughed at that, he hardly seemed the type for punk rock. But she did remember, now that Daryl mentioned it, Merle hummed 'Sheena is a Punk rocker' sometimes when he was working on the cars in the yard. Sometimes it was 'I Wanna be Sedated.' That always made her giggle.

Merle was so big and gruff and hearing him sing old Punk Rock songs just blew her mind. He had been with them for the better part of the year now and things were right as rain so far.

Daryl lit a cigarette and passed one to her and she took a long drag.

"Wanna get drunk and fool around?" He said bumping her shoulder with his and she turned to him with a grin. Her dimples showing in both her cheeks.

"Really? You're using a line from 'Jaws" on me." She said flicking the ash of her cigarette.

He nodded. "Did it work?"

Her lips quirked slightly as she tried not to give away exactly how cute he was sometimes. "Nope."

"Bullshit." He tapped her shoulder again and she got up the stand, grabbing the rail and scooting up.

"Where do you think you're goin?"

She leaned down over the rail at him and blew smoke down on his face. Her hair hung down just out of his reach but he tried anyway, and she scooted away before he could get to it.

"I wouldn't do that doctor, if I were you." He said looking up at her she just leaned over more and did it again. Their eyes met in the darkness and he swallowed, her eyes gazed at his Adam's apple, it was almost hypnotizing. She imagined her lips traveling over his skin there and his lips traveling over her skin.

She wanted him badly, but decided to play hard to get.

"I'm going to go read." She said, pulling her glasses out of her pants pocket and putting them on.

"You know I love those on you." He turned and stood up in front of her. "You look like a librarian."

She laughed. "Your kind of Librarian, or mine?"

"Get in there, wife." He motioned towards the doorway inside, reaching for his belt buckle. Lisbeth stubbed out the cigarette in the ashtray as she walked through the door. He followed behind her, kicking off his boots along the way.

"If you don't fuck me right now I'm divorcing you."

"Sweetheart." He snickered. "You aint never taking that ring off."

There was an old lumpy couch that they had brought up to rest on during watch and they had laid a blanket down over it to cover up the holes. She plopped down and reached for her book, but just as fast he took it out of her hand.

"Whatcha reading, The Stand again?" He laughed.

"And what of it." She said reaching for the book.

"Bet you can recite this word for word." He said putting the book on the table and she crawled into his lap.

"I'm sure I can, I carried that book all through college and med school. Almost lost it in Atlanta." She said with a small grin that was just for him.

"Yeah." He said settling his hands on her hips. "Too bad for me that you decided to hit me with that back pack you carry."

"You scared the piss out of me Daryl." She said remembering when he pulled her out of the corner the walker had backed her into and called her a dumbass.

"Saved your ass." He said slapping her ass lightly but with intention.

"My knight with the shining crossbow." She said kissing him once and pulling her cardigan sweater off. "Come on, off." She said pointing towards his vest and shirt and he lost them in record time. Then he watched her as she pulled her tank top over her head and unhooked her bra. She was amazing to look at.

He reached for her and she leaned back. "Wait just a minute." She cautioned with her finger, her eyes lighting up in the darkness of the room. There were just a few battery lanterns around, but only one was lit to conserve batteries.

"I don't wanna wait." He said running his hands over her hips and up her ribs. He never wanted to wait, he couldn't get enough of her and it was like the first time, every time.

"The best things are worth waiting for baby." She said gazing at him. "I wanna play touch me."

"Alright." He grinned, that was another game they played together. "Me first?"

"Touch my knee." She said and he slid his hand down to her knee, which was half hidden because she was straddling him. He ran his fingers over her leg slow and smooth, and it excited her already. There was one thing about him, he had a way with his hands and his touch lit her on fire.

He started to creep his hand up her thigh and she shook her head. That wasn't part of the game, yet.

"You know the rules, go." She said.

He knew alright, but he was going to push the envelope anyway. Lisbeth was a good sport and she enjoyed how playful he was.

"Touch my dick." He said laughing. "With your lips."

She burst out laughing. This was so typical of him; it all always came back to blow jobs. He put on a shy front, but with her, he was different, changed.

"That's not in the rules." She laughed merrily, meeting his eyes, her lips close to his.

"Rules of a game you invented." He laughed, feeling her breath on his lips.

"Pick another place…above the waist." She said, rolling her hips against him and almost making his eyes roll to the back of his skull.

"Not playing fair, Liz." He said with a groan. "And you'll pay for it."

"Whatever…pick a spot."

"Touch my neck." He said and she complied, running her fingers over his neck on both sides and towards his ears. She could feel his skin breaking out in goosebumps. She leaned close to his ear and sang, "I don't want this, remember that. I'll never forget where you're at. _Don't let the days go by, glycerine."_

Then she placed her lips on his neck, following the path her fingers had taken just moments before. " _Couldn't love you more, you've got a beautiful taste."_

When she got to his ear lobe she captured it between her teeth and licked the shell of his ear. " _Bad moon white again, as she falls around me."_ She grinned as she felt him shiver, and watched the goosebumps erupt even more along his neck.

Daryl let out a soft moan and reached for her.

His hands traveled up her back slowly and she felt the familiar thrill. It was like he left a trail of sensation all up her spine, he knew just how to touch her. She moved against him again, but he stopped her.

"Did you ever think you'd end up with a man like me?"

"What?" She asked. "Stop being a buzzkill."

"I know you didn't." He sighed.

She sat back and looked at him. "I was unhappy with all of the dates I had ever been on." She met his eyes. "I associated with doctor's and suits and they weren't for me, either before the turn or after."

He ran his hands up her thighs. "I saw you once."

Lisbeth gave him a funny look and she didn't know what he was getting at. They had talked about this before and he never mentioned that before.

"At Starbuck's, by the hospital about a year before the turn." He said. "You were sitting by the window and I walked by."

"How do you know it was me." She grinned.

"You were reading The Stand. I remembered because I like that book too, then I got hit with it and I knew." He said. "And the glasses, you were adorable."

"Why didn't you ever tell me?" She asked.

Daryl shrugged, but it was because at the time, a girl like her would have never gone for a guy like him and he knew it. He had known at the quarry that she was the same girl when he saw her reading The Stand by the fire. He had sat down with her and started talking about the book. That was the beginning of their friendship and she had made it clear that she was attracted to him, even then.

They spent many nights by the fire there talking, getting to know each other and she knew. He was the one.

It had taken him till they were at the CDC to catch up to her, but once he did, it was on.

"I wish we could have met, before the turn." She said laying her head on his shoulder. "Despite what you think, I would have been charmed by your eyes and heart."

Daryl believed her, he really did and it was like she could read his mind and knew just what he was thinking. She did that a lot and at first it was unnerving, but now he was just used to it. She knew him, really knew him.

Lisbeth was as honest as the day was long, it was one of the qualities he adored in her. If she said it wouldn't have mattered, it wouldn't have. Many times she told him she liked how strong and manly he was, it was what she loved about him, and she felt safe with him.

She explained to him that a woman desires that deep down inside, at least she always did. No one had ever made her feel the way he did. She felt safe and cherished with him and it was everything.

The suits she worked with didn't do it for her, but he did and he believed her.

He felt her skin on his and pulled her close and it was almost too much to bear. Her breasts were soft and sweet feeling against his bare chest. "What about the game?"

She sat back and smiled at him. "It's my turn."

"Where do I get to touch ya?" He wiggled his eyebrows at her suggestively.

"You pick." She smiled, thinking he would go for her breasts, but he didn't. He touched her lips with his fingers and ran his thumb along her bottom lip not breaking eye contact with her. He knew how to push her buttons, in all the right ways.

She slid his finger into her mouth and lightly bit on the pad of it and closed her eyes, humming against his skin. He watched her intently as she took his finger between her teeth and then her lips. She could be dirty as fuck sometimes, and she was all his.

Thank Christ for the apocalypse, because he would have never stopped to talk to her at Starbuck's. His own fears about the class system and a girl like her would never have allowed it.

"I like this game." He said, hotly. "We come up with some good ones."

She grinned. "Yeah we do."

Daryl kissed her softly, then kissed up her neck and whispered in her ear. "Touch my chest." And he felt her small hands over his chest and up to his shoulders making his dick twitch against her. She could feel it between her legs, hard as a rock already and she moved again, as she massaged his shoulders.

"Touch mine." She breathed out and his hands were all over her immediately and he was kissing her madly. "Oh God baby." She moaned and pushed herself down against his lap and his dick.

He brought his palms over her breasts, feeling her nipples get harder and watched as her skin flushed. Lisbeth was the most responsive lover he had ever had. It seemed like all he had to do was touch her and she melted into him, it was love, and he realized back at the CDC.

Love could make a strong man weak or make him stronger than he ever thought he could be.

"Touch me more." She moaned.

"Where?" He asked.

"Everywhere." She said kissing him hard. "Everywhere, everywhere."

Daryl was not one to disappoint his lady and he brought his hands down over her hips and unbuttoned her pants. She hopped off his lap and shimmied out of them as he got up and shucked off his own pants. He sat back down and pulled her onto his lap.

"I want you on top baby." He whispered hotly, never taking his eyes from hers. Lisbeth climbed onto his lap and sunk down on his dick in record time. She put her hands on his shoulders and didn't move. She met his eyes and remained still, feeling him inside her.

Some things were too good to rush.

"Oh." He said. "Are we trying that tantric thing again?"

She laughed sweetly. "You want me to move." She brought her face close to his. "Tell me what you want."

He brought his hands down over her ass and squeezed.

"I want you to move that heart shaped ass of yours." He said kissing her hard and reaching down over her stomach and ghosting his fingers along her skin.

"Touch me lower." She breathed out.

"Move that ass." He said pulling her closer and resting his hands on her hips as she finally started moving.

"Your wish is my command." Lisbeth brought her hands down his shoulders and moved faster. She felt his fingers sliding down between her legs and she let out a contented purr.

"Feel good sweetheart." And she nodded, rolling her hips against his and against his fingers in a sweet rhythm that was going to push her over the edge fast. He wouldn't tease her this time, and his lips found their way to her breast with evil intentions.

"Mmmmmm." Was all she could squeak out and he watched as her skin flushed a deep red and he knew she was close already.

He worked his tongue on her nipple in tandem with his fingers and she was so wet.

"God damn you're soaked." He slid his fingers over her clit softly, making slow circles and doing the same with his tongue higher up at her breast. "Fuck me baby."

He could feel her hot skin against his cheek, making love to her was like being with someone who had a fever. Her skin got hot and flushed right before she came and between his touch and his words, he could always get her there fast if he wanted to. And tonight, he wanted to, no games and no teasing.

"Daryl." She gasped out, rocking her hips against his and wrapping her arms around him.

"That's it, do it." He said and went right back to her nipple leaving a wet trail with his tongue all over it. He licked it like a demon and then sucked hard, making her arch her back and slam down on him harder. "Come on me."

She could feel it coming like a tidal wave, the tingling sensation from her hairline to her toes, like an out of body experience. It was always this good, and she gave herself completely over to it, allowing it to wash over her. This was love, that had eluded them both for such a long time.

"Oh Daryl, fuck, fuck, oh my God." She cried out, pulling him close against her and he followed right after her with a scream that echoed off the cement walls of the tower.

They stayed that way for a long time, holding each other close, their breath and heartbeats in synch, knowing they would never be apart as long as they drew breath in this new world.


	3. You're with me

**A/N: I know I'm traveling backwards in time here, but it's kind of fun and different. Hope you all like. xoxoxoxoxox Krissy.**

CDC- Daryl's Game- You're with me.

"You're with me." He took her by the hand and it was not up for discussion. Lisbeth didn't argue, and he made it clear that it wasn't going to be any other way.

Behind him she could see Lori grinning, but she couldn't look at her friend. Lori had called this about two weeks ago when she and Lisbeth were doing wash in the quarry. She had said there was an energy around the two of them that everyone could see. Some sort of electric charge, a current going from him to her and she predicted an explosion.

Lisbeth had brushed her off saying that they were just good friends. Lori had replied that sure, they were good friends, but good friends that wanted to tear each-others clothes off.

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"Well." she crossed her arms in front of her. "You finally got me in your bedroom."

Daryl came out of the bathroom zipping up his fly and looked at her funny. "What?"

"You heard me Dixon." She said pulling off her boots. "Here I am and I'm stripping."

She laughed that merry laugh that went right through his soul. He talked a big talk and pretended he didn't know, but he knew. There was something between them, something real.

"You got a screw loose or something?"

"I need a shower, so badly." She said shucking off her jeans and heading for the bathroom.

"You got more than a screw loose?" He said as she walked by him.

"Oh come on, you've seen me in my underwear before."

"We was swimming."

Lisbeth stopped in the door way and turned back to him. "I won't use all the water, unless you wanna share?" She winked at him.

"Knock it off woman." He growled at her and started rethinking his choice to share with her. They had tents next to each other and he just felt better being near her, in case she needed him. But maybe this was too near. "Go take your damn shower and don't use all the hot water, I'm going next."

"Ok." She threw her shirt and bra out the door at him, they landed on the floor at his feet. "But it's more fun to share."

"Go." He waved towards the door and turned his back. She was going to be the death of him.

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"You and Lori sure dusted those two bottles of wine, huh?" He sat her down on the couch after he practically carried her back to their room. They had some kind of party that night and everyone was feeling no pain. It was well past midnight when they staggered back to their rooms.

She immediately got up and turned on the CD player low, "My Hero" by The Foo Fighters came on. It was so good to hear music. She had always been a person who had earbuds in her ears constantly, but that wasn't the way it was now.

You had to be able to hear who or what was sneaking up on you.

"She's a riot, and it was fun." She twirled around in a circle and Daryl just shook his head at her, but he was smiling.

"God, I hate The Foo Fighters."

"Daryl." She turned and sat back down next to him. "You know David Grohl…"

"Yeah, I know…"

"He was in your precious Nirvana." She giggled moving back on the couch, Daryl was all about Nirvana and Bush. "I'll look for Glycerine…" She stood up but got immediately dizzy, so she sat back down. "Maybe later."

Daryl huffed and took off his boots, Lisbeth whistled and he looked at her with an odd look on his face. He ignored the way she was looking at him now, because it was hot. She was hot, everything about her made his blood boil in his veins and he wanted her.

"It's just so nice to relax." She said. "Not be running all the time."

"Nice to get loaded." He said, grinning at her.

"And eat real food."

"I don't trust him, Jenner, he's a sketch ball." Daryl said kicking his boots off and sitting opposite her.

"More wine." She said holding up the bottle.

"Think you had enough girl." He said watching her take a swig out of the bottle. That was the paradox of her that drew him to her. She was a doctor, the smartest woman he had ever known and a down to earth southern girl all in one package. She checked all the boxes on his wish list, if he ever had one.

"I'm glad to be with you, with the group." The alcohol was sure making her talkative, and he was sweating it already. He was in a bedroom with a beautiful woman and that hadn't happened in any time in his life. Not someone like her.

He nodded. "I know, I'm just glad we found you."

"Thank you." She said putting the bottle down and moving closer to him. She wanted him to kiss her, he knew it. She had been throwing comments out all day, but he had things on his mind. "I never thanked you properly."

"S'alright, I know."

"You do don't you?" She said, meeting his eyes and he saw fire there.

"Did you understand all that mumbo jumbo that douche was talking?"

"Yes." She nodded, pulling the hair tie out of her hair and letting it cascade over her shoulders. She wouldn't make it easy for him to resist, if he even wanted to. "But Daryl, can it just be us tonight, you and me?" She said softly. "Just for one night?"

Daryl was a man, with a man's sensibility, but he was weak for her, and had been from the start. Now she was looking at him with her big eyes, eyes that he could dive into and never want to come out. She got closer and before he knew it he was kissing her.

Her lips were sweet and she tasted like wine and everything good in the world. She was to him, a representation that there were good people in this world still. Kissing her was like swimming underwater and feeling out of breath. His heart liked to beat out of his chest and he wanted more, so much more.

Before he knew it she was closer and almost in his lap, and his hands were sliding up her sides, but he knew they needed to talk.

"You've been drinking; we shouldn't do this."

"So have you." She said going in for another kiss. "I know you want to. I'm not wrong about that."

"No, you aint wrong, just been a long time."

"For me too." She said turning to sit facing him. "But I want to, we can go slow, see what happens, we're safe here."

"Whatever that means anymore."

"Tonight we're safe." She kissed him softly, winding her hands with his gently. "And I really want this, for as long as we can have it."

Daryl had always prided himself in his self-control but he was done. Done worrying and done dicking around. This time he kissed her the way he wanted to and she was taken by surprise at how demanding it was.

He kissed her like she was his property, pushing his tongue into her mouth and devouring her whole. She kissed him back and finally she climbed all the way on his lap. His hands ended up on her hips and his fingers found their way under the back of her shirt and to her skin.

Lisbeth pulled her flowing shirt over her head and left her tank top on, then she was kissing him again and moving his hands with hers. Her small hands felt cool on top of his as they led them over her sides and to her breasts.

"Touch me." She whispered.

Daryl's hands were gentle and he touched her like she was a precious thing and she felt her heart beating wildly in her chest already. His kisses were hotter and hotter and her hands were traveling under his shirt, tentatively and gentle and he didn't flinch. Over the weeks with her he had gotten used to her touching him.

It was as if she knew, without having to be told and maybe that was true. He hadn't told her but somehow she knew. She never forced it on him and they had started out holding hands once in a while, occasional hugs, gradually building up to where they were now.

"This ok." He breathed out, now not wanting to stop, but willing to if she wanted.

"Yes." She whispered. "I want more."

She pressed herself against him just to make sure he got the point.

"Lisbeth, I don't have any…" He pressed his forehead to hers. "I didn't think."

"Oh." She didn't understand, and then she did and she smiled. "Oh, I have the Norplant, in my arm. It's good for five years."

"Oh good." He kissed her again.

"You're clean right?"

"Uh, yeah, that's Merle's wheelhouse, not mine." He said kissing her again and pulling his shirt over his head.

She looked at his chest, there was a scar there and she touched it, then pressed her lips to it. "Someone hurt you."

He nodded.

"No one will ever hurt you again." She said, moving her lips over the scar. "I promise."

"It was a long time ago, but tonight it's just me and you." He pulled her closer and maneuvered her on the couch onto her back. Daryl stared down at her, her hair was all around her and her eyes were bright like stars in the sky.

His lips were on her neck in an instant, hot and wet and he felt her respond immediately, she moaned softly and dug her hands into his hair. This wasn't what he was used to, the usual having sex with whoever he picked up for the night to just get off.

This was life changing, and he wanted nothing more than to make her happy. He touched her stomach and slid his hand under her shirt slowly in case she wanted him to stop. Lisbeth let out a sound that sounded like a cat purring and he knew he was on the right track.

Daryl brought his hand over her breast and she moaned softly, he found that he liked that sound and wanted to hear more. He opened the front clasp of her bra and exposed her breasts, they were small and round and of all things he thought of something Merle used to say.

'Anything more than a handful is a waste' but she was perfect. He shook Merle from his mind before it killed the mood and brought his hand over her soft skin. He wanted to kiss her there and he brought his lips to the side of her breast like a starving man begging for a meal. Slowly he brought his mouth to her nipple and licked, while running his fingers over the other one.

He felt her suck in her breath sharply. "Oh fuck yes Daryl." He smiled with his lips still there and licked again and again as her hand would around his hair.

For all the experience he did have, he never had a woman this on fire for him and it was empowering. It might have been the greatest feeling in the world. So he wasn't stopping this for anything, he swirled his tongue around and around and repeated the same with his fingers on the other side.

Lisbeth was running her hands over his back and he knew she felt the scars, but she didn't say anything. She was lost in the sensation he was creating and her eyes closed softly as her body gave itself over to him.

Daryl kissed between her breasts and down towards her stomach. "You alright?" He asked reaching for her pants and opening the buttons.

"I'm fine, keep going." She whispered. "Don't stop."

Daryl sat up and finished undoing her pants and pulled them down her thighs and off. She had on a pair of lacy red panties and he almost died right there.

"Where'd you get those?"

He brought his hand over to touch the material as she pulled her shirt and bra over her head.

"Not telling, a lady has her secrets."

"Fine." He brought his hands over her thigh then touched her through the material. "Have your little secrets."

Daryl brought his fingers under the elastic of her panties and inside. He groaned out loud when her felt how wet she was. "Fuck that's nice."

He reached for the waistband and carefully took them off her and sticking them in his back pocket, like a dirty motherfucker.

"Hey."

"I'll give em back don't worry." He said moving her legs apart with a wicked grin. By this time his dick was straining in his pants but he wasn't done with her yet. He wanted to try something, something different for him.

He licked his lips and stared down at her, she stared back and he could feel her eyes boring into him. He watched her breathing, it was heavy and ragged, not unlike his own and he leaned down and kissed her knee, placing it against the back of the couch. Her other knee was resting on the couch seat proper as he licked his way up her thigh.

Daryl wasted no time getting up close and personal between her legs, because really, once he had decided, he couldn't wait. Alone in his tent he had dared to imagine this and he licked her with the flat of his tongue like he wanted to since probably that first night they talked by the fire.

"Oh my God." She breathed out.

Lisbeth's hips shot off the couch and she moved her legs apart further. He whispered 'Good girl' against her skin and felt her legs tremble. He hummed against her skin and held her in place with a hand over her stomach as he brought his tongue softly over her clit.

He stayed there, using his tongue and lips and her hands shot out and gripped the material of the couch. Lisbeth thrashed and pushed herself closer to his face, and he delighted in doing this to her. It was his first time and wouldn't be the last, because now he knew what all the fuss was and why women wanted this so much.

Fuck, he wanted it, he had never been so turned on in his life and his dick was like a stone from the taste of her and the way she responded. He knew there was a bed about eight feet away but he couldn't wait.

She was moaning softly and he knew she was trying to be quiet so that no one would hear them, he upped the ante by sliding one finger and then two inside her. Lisbeth could feel the pressure building and it came down on her like a whoosh from a breeze on a fall day.

She totally fell apart then and even though she was quiet it was an epic event. It was like she was possessed by a demon and her entire body reacted, trembling and writhing for what seemed like forever to him. He felt every bit of it, then he looked up at her and watched as she came down from the wave.

Daryl stood up and he felt her eyes on him, she sat up on her elbows as he unbuckled his pants and the sound of his belt sent a chill through her whole body.

"Get those pants off now." She said and her voice was hot like fire. He shucked off his jeans and watched her eyes get wide. "I think that's gonna hurt."

"I think it's gonna hurt in all the best ways." He replied in that hot gravelly voice that went right through her.

Then he was on top of her and the weight of him felt delicious.

"You sure." He asked and she nodded immediately.

"Yes. I want it." She pulled him closer and inside her.

"Oh fuck me." He breathed out in a gasp. She felt so good around him, warm and wet and so fucking tight. "Fuck, oh God."

She wrapped her legs around his waist and pulled him down for the hottest, dirtiest kiss he had ever had. She licked his lips and pushed her tongue into his mouth and dominated the entire kiss while he dominated her body with his.

Daryl slid his fingers down between her legs and circled her clit again, the way he had done before. He watched himself going in and out of her and watched his hand moving between their bodies. Then his eyes traveled over her body and back to her face. Never a fan of eye contact during sex, now he couldn't _not look at her, he needed it._

"Daryl, I can't…" She breathed out.

"Yes you can…" He whispered in her ear, along with some extremely dirty words that set her entire being on fire. "Come on sweetheart, give it to me."

The fuse was lit and it burned through her entire body until she was clinging to him, with sweat pouring over her face and tears running down her cheeks. He made her do what she was sure was impossible, and it was better than she could ever imagine.

Daryl felt her body contracting around him and it was too much to bear, he let the feeling overtake him completely and came in a roar of curses and trembling that left him exhausted on top of her.

Lisbeth reached over and stroked his hair as they laid together on the couch, both lost in their own thoughts for a while.

"Ain't never been with a doctor before…"

"I'm just a girl Daryl." She said softly.

"How old are you anyway."

"32, you?"

"38."

"For an old man, you got some game." She smiled, showing her dimples, which he loved and he was entranced. He hugged her close and they lay together in silence a few more minutes. He had more to say and she knew it, but she also knew not to push him. He was a man of few words, but when he had something on his mind he would get the point across eventually. Lisbeth was a patient woman and he knew that.

"Ain't never done that before." Daryl said pulling her closer to him on the couch so that they were pressed right up against each other.

"What? Sex?" She asked. If he was a beginner, she was certainly deprived in the past with other men. There was no way he was a virgin, no way in hell.

"No, I've done that, I've had sex. But this wasn't that. This was an experience…almost spiritual."

She looked up at him, her eyes clear and sparkling. "I agree."

"Ain't never went down on anyone before." He mumbled.

" Sweet baby Jesus, Daryl, you could a fooled me. I'm about to propose to you." She laughed.

"It was too intimate, special, I guess to do with just anyone."

Lisbeth sat up a little. "But you wanted to right?"

"Oh yeah I did, for the first time ever."

"Good." She said kissing him again. "I feel honored."

"This is dangerous; we could get each other killed."

"No, we can protect each other, you've taught me so much, keep teaching me. Imagine what a team we could be?"

"Then you'll be mine then?" Daryl asked. "Only mine."

"Yes." She whispered in the darkness.


	4. There Goes My Hero

**Another look back in time and then I'm onto season four, yikes. I think I might separate them for a short time, after the prison falls, thoughts?**

Daryl's Game-There Goes My Hero

Too alarmin' now to talk about  
Take your pictures down and shake it out  
Truth or consequence, say it aloud  
Use that evidence, race it around

There goes my hero  
Watch him as he goes  
There goes my hero  
He's ordinary

Don't the best of them bleed it out  
While the rest of them peter out?  
Truth or consequence, say it aloud  
Use that evidence, race it around

There goes my hero  
Watch him as he goes  
There goes my hero  
He's ordinary

My Hero by The Foo Fighters

Lisbeth pushed her hair out of her face and tied it up in a bun to keep it out of her way. She knew she should have cut her hair when she had the chance and now that wasn't likely at all. She couldn't remember the last time she showered, let alone washed her hair.

Everything was a mess and she was right in the middle of it, as usual. She thought about what had possessed her to go to Med School anyway? But she knew the answer to that, she had promised her father and he was gone so many years now. She hoped he was proud of her, wherever he was. She hoped he was in a better place now, but recent events had made her question even the fundamental beliefs she had thought were true.

Was there a Heaven? Because she was surely in hell right now.

She loved her work, but something bad was coming, she felt it in her bones and she was rarely wrong. As she stood at the nurse's station looking around at all the hospital beds, brought from other floors to handle the over flow. There were people in all of them, the sick and the dying.

The nurses were running around like mad just trying to keep up and it was getting worse by the hour. They were running out of meds and supplies, yet people kept coming, this new sickness spreading like wildfire through the city.

This was the bad part of being the chief of the ER, sleepless nights and multiple shifts until you were like the walking dead. Pouring coffee down your throat until you couldn't stand the taste of it any longer.

She loved it once and maybe still, but she was afraid now and fear could make the best of people go mad.

Lisbeth was going into her third week at the hospital dealing with this new flu, or whatever it was that was going around. There was a no leave policy in place and the entire staff that was there from the first outbreak remained. She hadn't heard from her room-mate Jenny in two days, her calls just went to voice mail and eventually the phone just didn't ring at all.

She was getting scared more and more as time went by. There were rumors of the dead getting up and walking and the news just kept telling everyone to stay inside until it passed.

It wasn't passing.

It was all going to shit fast.

The chief of staff was down in the morgue, dead for four days and she had just gotten the call. Something had happened down there and it was all hands on deck. She and her PA Kristin went running down the hall towards the doors with fear in their hearts.

Chief of staff Martin was walking, and that just wasn't possible. The panicked call from the tech's down there said every single body down there was moving.

Kristin stopped her before they got to the door. "Do we need something to defend ourselves?"

"From what?"

"Lisbeth, we just got a call that Un-McDreamy rose from the dead." Kristin hissed. "I would say from him."

"You watch too much TV." Lisbeth said reaching into her lab coat for a hemostat and holding it up to her co-worker and friend. "Happy?"

"I'm calling Jeremy." She pulled out her cellphone and sent a STAT message to the hospital security team. They responded promptly and said they were already on their way.

"Sit tight ladies, I'm on my way." Came over Kristin's push to talk phone that every on staff had. Jeremy was a big guy and he and his staff were the best in Atlanta. If Jeremy told you to stay put, you stayed put.

But the noises they could hear echoing down the hall from the morgue were terrifying.

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Jeremy slammed the door as the two women ran out and threw the lock in place. He could only hope that the lock held what was behind the door. There were more calls from other floors that all hell was breaking out and he yelled into his phone for people to stay away from the morgue and the ER. It was a shit show.

"We got to go." He yelled at the two women, waving his hands in the air. "Ditch those lab coats, they can grab those, get your shit and meet me and Wendell in the ambulance bay, tell everyone to get out now."

Jeremy took off down the hall yelling into his phone for everyone to get out now while they could. His footsteps echoed in the silence of the hallway as he yanked open the stairwell door and ran upstairs to warn the rest of the staff.

Lisbeth and Kristin ran to the employee locker room, right down the hall they were in and grabbed their belongings out of the lockers and in haste Lisbeth almost forgot her book. She quickly shoved it in her back pack and Kristin slammed her locker.

"You really think you'll have time to read during this clusterfuck?"

"Its signed." Lisbeth said throwing her backpack over her shoulder.

"Something tells me even Stephen King himself wouldn't believe this." Kristin said as they headed for the door.

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Six of them escaped in the ambulance and another ambulance with three others was right behind them. The streets were chaos, people running all around and towards the now staff-less hospital. But also it seemed like the people were running from something and she knew what it was. The few in the ambulance were all that was left of the doctors, nurses and medics at the hospital, the rest had been attacked and turned into something ungodly.

Kelly, the paramedic that was in the jump seat next to Jeremy rolled down her window and yelled for people to turn around, that the hospital was over- run with the dead.

No one listened and the two ambulances drove on away from the disaster behind them. Towards another disaster in front of them.

"We tried our best." Kristin said to Lisbeth as she stared out the window, but it was a bitter pill to swallow. She and all of the others had been trained to minister and comfort the sick and the dying. They barely made it out of there as bodies started moving and attacking the already too exhausted to fight staff. One of the medics they worked with every day, James had been bitten as they all ran for their lives.

James made them leave without him, he knew he was a dead man walking and he didn't want to endanger his friends. He sat down on the ledge by the ER entrance, lit a cigarette and watched the two ambulances leave, while it all came falling down around him.

Lisbeth would never forget the haunting look of fear in his eyes.

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They ran out of gas trying to get out of Atlanta and ended up down town, on the north end. It seemed like they had run for miles, but it was just a few blocks. When you were being chased by something so un-natural that your mind couldn't even comprehend it, each step was a mile.

They ended up in a coffee shop the first night and luckily it had been closed down before the shit hit the fan and the owners were probably half way to Mexico by now.

There was seven of them now, two of the nurses that left with them had fallen and a hoard of the dead got them swiftly. Now the survivors sat in a circle in the dark with one candle lit between them and eating the cookies they found in the back room.

"We need to get out of the city." Jeremy stated. "My parents have a place in Senoia, we should head there."

"But what if…" Kristin said.

"The phone lines are probably going to go down, I've been trying to call them all day, but I still think it's our best bet."

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They never made it out of Atlanta at all. While Jeremy and Wendell tried to hot wire a car a helicopter flew over the city and turned a hoard of the dead on them. There were only four of them left now and Lisbeth and Kristin could help but cry as their friends were one by one taken down. To their horror they witnessed an immediate reanimation of Kelly and Jeremy had to put her down with a hemostat, commonly called a Kelly clamp.

The irony of that made her heart ache and she wasn't sure she had it in her to even go on.

It was all too much to bear and Jeremy pushed them into a nearby department store, powerless to comfort them or himself.

The department store had a fully stocked snack bar and they buckled down as if they were living Dawn of the Dead and in a way they were.

It was a nightmare they wished they could wake up from, but they couldn't.

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Lisbeth saw him before he saw her and in her haste to hide she made a fatal mistake. Jeremy had been sick with the fever, along with Kristin and she had promised her friend that she would take her down. She did and it made her sick to her stomach, but Kristin had begged her too and Lisbeth couldn't let her down. As soon as she confirmed her friend's death she shoved her knife through her skull and ended it for good.

Then she threw up what little was in her stomach and collapsed on the floor with dry heaves and in tears. She slept fitfully that night and decided to let whatever was going to happen to her, happen and she hoped it would be quick.

Lisbeth had a pocket full of Oxycontin that she had swiped from the ER as she ran out and she planned to put Jeremy out of his misery and then herself.

She just couldn't do it to Jeremy too, he had died that very morning and she knew she had to. She just couldn't bring herself to do it yet. Because then it was her turn.

She sat in a corner looking at the pills in her hand hoping there would be enough and then she heard voices. Lisbeth panicked and shot up too fast, dropping everything on the floor.

There was a man in the store and he had a crossbow. She had dropped the pills and now she cursed herself as she ran towards the dressing rooms. She was trying to hide and Jeremy's walker had snuck up and had her cornered.

Not this way, please, not this way she prayed to whoever might still be listening.

She couldn't get to her knife fast enough, but it didn't matter. A bolt from the crossbow hit what used to be Jeremy right between the eyes.

Her friend fell to her feet, spraying blood and guts all over her and she fainted.

"Are you fucking kidding me." The blonde man yelled. "Get the fuck out of there before another one gets you ya dumbass."

This was just his luck to find a woman in the middle of this mess they were all in. Why, oh why did this stuff always happen to him? Merle was missing and headed for parts unknown with one hand and the other chopped off. What the ever loving fuck? The fucking bastard had cauterized it himself for God's sake, no one was killing Merle except Merle, those words he said to Grimes were the truest he had ever spoken. His brother had a set, that was for sure, but God damn now this.

He knelt down next to her and checked to make sure she was still breathing, she was. Then he backed up, unsure of what to do. He decided to wait, like he didn't have ten thousand other things to do, but what the fuck ever at this point.

The brown haired girl got up and pulled out her knife as she hid behind a mirror, but he was coming towards her.

Daryl couldn't leave her, his conscious would never allow it, but they had a lot going on here. Merle was gone and now the kid Glenn was kidnapped. They were trying to do a deal with those spicks at the nursing home and she was going to slow them right the fuck down.

He did not need her. He did not need the responsibility that he already felt. A woman alone would be in for a world of hurt the way things were now. He could never leave her alone here.

"Fuck you." She yelled back and slammed her back pack into his arm. It fucking hurt, and it felt like she had a brick in there or something. Some thank you for saving her ass and trying to help her, for worrying about what could happen to her. Women!

"Hey." He yelled. "I just saved your life, how about a thank you instead of a beating, you got a brick in there or what."

The girl stood there catching her breath and staring right through him, Daryl had the feeling he knew her. He didn't know how, but she looked so familiar to him. Her hair was a mess and she was dirty like he was, but he knew her. He was sure of it.

She was also a heinous bitch and wasn't it just his luck to happen along as that walker tried to eat her for lunch.

A thank you would have been nice right about now.

"Thank you." She said as her eyes met his. "I knew him, I…"

"Not any more sweetheart, its us and the dead and once they turn, ya gotta put them down fast." He said pulling his arrow out of the dead man's head and wiping it on his pants. "Before they get you, just how it is."

"I know that." She whispered, revealing her knife. "I was going to do it."

Daryl looked at her. She was a foot shorter than him but she had fire in her eyes. She looked like she wanted to stab him right in the head. Her stance was one for a fight, and she held the knife still, pointed at him.

"You all alone here?"

"No." She stuttered, realizing she was all alone with him. Now she was scared, she had been all alone since Kristin got sick, but no one came until the other day and she had hidden from them. No one ever saw her and she had witnessed the whole debacle. The man shooting the gun on the roof, the policeman and the blonde talking about the mermaid necklace the arguing and the boy in the red car. She saw it all, and now she was going to lie and get away from this guy as fast as she could. "My friends are…"

"Relax honey, I ain't like that." He said. "You can't stay here all alone, others might be like that and you don't wanna end up as some douchebags concubine or worse do ya?"

Daryl could not abide a woman being hurt in any way, but especially that way. Fuck that. This world was going to hell in a handbasket and he knew all too well what people would do. Men would go on rampages, stealing, robbing and raping whoever got in their way. There were no rules anymore and that was a scary thought, even to him.

"You're very rude." She said.

"Hey, it's the world we live in now. What's your name?" He said wiping his brow with a red rag he pulled from his back pocket.

"What's yours?" She countered, shoving her knife in her pants and putting her hands on her hips.

"Daryl." He said and nodded towards her, shoving the rag back where he got it.

"Lisbeth."

"Like that girl in the book?" Daryl was well read, even if no one thought so. He had read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo years ago. She was anything but that Lisbeth, no tattoos or piercings that he could see and long dark brown hair, not at all like the girl in the book.

She sighed and laughed softly. "Not so much."

"Come on Lisbeth, I have friends here, we got a camp outside the city, other women and children. It's safe, and frankly you look like you could use a meal." He said grabbing her by the hand and pulling her into the room more, past the racks of clothes.

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"Whatcha reading." Daryl said approaching her by the fire one night. Lisbeth sat there every night after everyone went to sleep and he watched her sometimes. He wanted to make sure she was safe, and that's how he realized that she had insomnia. She had been with them a few weeks now and slowly he was getting to know her.

He knew some things already, she didn't like fish and she never slept much. She wanted to be his friend and she loved to swim in the quarry. That was more than good enough for him. Lisbeth might have been his first real friend and it took the apocalypse to get that. Go figure.

She sat up every night reading and didn't go to her tent until the middle of the night. Her tent was next to his now and he watched over her, and he wouldn't go to sleep until she was in her tent. Something made him come out of his tent this night instead of laying inside thinking and wondering things, to sit and talk to her.

They had an uneasy friendship of sorts and he felt drawn to her somehow. He wanted to know more about her and why she couldn't sleep at night.

"The Stand."

"Appropriate." He answered, sitting down in a chair next to her.

Lisbeth looked up at him. "You read it."

"Twice, first the paperback and then the expanded hard cover."

"I was so excited the day I got this signed." She said. "Stephen King himself was at Barnes and Noble five years ago." She looked over at him, with just the firelight to see with. "I guess he's dead now."

"You don't sleep much do ya?" Daryl said, trying to change the morbid topic she had just introduced. A lot of people were dead, and that could break your heart if you let it.

Lisbeth shrugged. "I'm used to it from work, I guess and now." She looked down at the fire in front of them. "I'm just scared all the time."

"Maybe you need to read something less distressing then, a romance novel maybe?" He said with a slight grin. "Get your mind off all this." He said waving his hand around for emphasis and she smiled sweetly. She had dimples and Daryl loved that, one on each cheek and one on her chin when she really smiled, if she was happy and was laughing.

"Daryl." She smiled, taking off her glasses. He struggled to see those dimples but it was too dark. "Do I look like a girl who reads romance novels?"

He touched her hand briefly and took it away fast, as if touching her shocked him. He felt something, and he didn't know what the fuck it was. Between this and his desire to seek her out all the time, he was all confused. But she needed him to be a man right now and goddamn he was going to step up to the plate. "You don't got to be scared, I won't let anything happen to you. To anyone here."

She took his hand back and brought his fingers into hers . "I know Daryl, you're a good man and this is my favorite book."

They sat there by the fire side by side holding hands and he didn't know what to do. It had been so long since he had held a girl's hand, he couldn't remember the last time. Certainly not since high school and even then not very often, but this felt good. Really good and that surprised him, because he wasn't a hand holder at all.

"Thanks for saving my ass." She said quietly. "You have no idea what you stopped me from doing."

He could only imagine.

"You're welcome." He said looking down at their hands entwined. It felt so good it scared him.

He really couldn't afford to feel good in this new world, but here it was.

You know my hero, the one that's on  
There goes my hero  
Watch him as he goes  
There goes my hero  
He's ordinary


	5. Nutshell

**_This is so non-canon but that's how I roll. Also very long, sometimes I get carried away. I love you all xoxoxoxox Krissy_**

We chase misprinted lies  
We face the path of time  
And yet I fight  
And yet I fight  
This battle all alone  
No one to cry to  
No place to call home

Nutshell by Alice in Chains

No one saw it coming and they were so unprepared. They were distracted, by life, sickness and death and then one day the real death rolled right up to their gates.

Lisbeth had been working nonstop in the quarantine area for weeks with Hershel trying to keep the flu at bay. It was working and they had sent the last of the people out the day before. They would heal, but there were no medications left now and that was a scary prospect.

This time, it was just the flu, next time it might be something worse and they needed to prepare. Still, they all breathed a sigh of relief when Lisbeth and Hershel told them it would pass.

It didn't pass easily, and not without worry and not without hard, hard work. Everyone pitched in, it was just the way it was now, and he had to go. Daryl was packing the car for the trip to the veterinary college out in the back when Merle sidled up behind him.

"I wanna go too brother, don't trust that Stokey guy one bit." He said, lighting a cigarette and offering one to Daryl, which he took. Merle knew Stokey was a drunk and a sketch ball and he was worried about Daryl out there with him. The man would be a hindrance, and wouldn't have Daryl's back if push came to shove. "He won't have your back and you know it."

"Can't, I got Tyreese on board and I need you to watch out for her."

"Your woman? Are you seriously worried about her?" Merle said in disbelief. "She's a little badass thanks to you, thanks to me, for teaching it all to you, first." He smiled. "Ain't nothin gonna hurt her."

"She's working too hard, you got to make sure she eats, sleeps. I won't be here to make sure and you know how she is."

"What about Andrea and Shane, couldn't you take them instead?"

"Lisbeth needs Andrea to help clean up the infirmary and Shane is here to watch your back, there're too many people here now. Rick can't do it all alone, he needs you and Shane, the rest of these assholes from Woodberry think this is the fucking Hilton for god sake."

"Alright," Merle replied.

"If trouble comes, Rick will take care of what's his, and Shane too. I need you here to take care of what's mine." He said.

Merle nodded. He understood and knew that Daryl would trust no one else but him to watch out for her if there was any trouble. It wasn't a burden, it was an honor and he was a man of honor.

"Thanks, brother, I need you here," Daryl said.

"And I need you." A voice said from behind them and they both turned. Lisbeth approached them and she looked like she hadn't slept in ages. Daryl knew she had, but the exhaustion was overtaking her. She wore a black tank top and cargo pants and she was covered in sweat, she held two water bottles out for them.

To Daryl, she looked beautiful, as always. But he knew she was dead on her feet, as usual. She slept better now that they shared a bed, but she still woke up at almost five am every day to go doctor whoever needed it, and someone always needed it.

In the short time, they had been there she had treated all manner of injuries and had delivered two babies. She and Hershel were always busy, there was always someone falling down or showing up to them with some sort of complaint.

"You come back to me, you hear?" She handed him the bottle and he took her in his arms.

"I will always come back to you." He said kissing the side of her face. They popped the caps off the bottles, Lisbeth and Daryl shared theirs and Merle took a big swig of the too warm liquid. They stood there in silence and watched as Rick and Lori sat down at one of the tables outside with Carl, Judith was in the car carrier on top of the table.

The kids were the reason they decided for Daryl to go on this run. The children were their most precious asset now. If one of them got sick, they would have to have meds for them.

Judith had been breach and Lisbeth had to turn her externally for the birth, but now she was a healthy six months old and the light of her parent's eyes. Things were good, normal and that made them all uneasy. Daryl and Merle had been searching for The Governor for months and he was in the wind. Michhone was gone looking for him for weeks at a time, but no one ever found him, yet they knew he was out there, plotting.

That was the man he was.

Merle said he would be back with a vengeance and no one doubted that.

"I made you some snacks to take, I'll just go get them," Lisbeth said turning to go, but he held her hand, not wanting to let go of her just yet.

"We really need those meds?" He asked, hoping she would just say no and he could stay and sleep next to her that night, but he knew.

She nodded. "We really do." She said, and then she was gone, walking back towards the prison.

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The run to the college was the worst he had ever gone on. Anything and everything went wrong, including Daryl almost killing Bob over a bottle of booze. But in the end, they got the meds they needed, a few extra supplies and were on their way back in two days.

That was two days too long in his opinion, and Merle was right. Stokey had no one's back but his own and he was never going on another run with that moron.

Tyreese drove the minivan they'd hotwired while Daryl looked out the window thinking of her. He would drive later and with any luck, they would be there by noon the next day. He cracked open the pistachios Lisbeth had put in her care package for him, tossing the shells out the window and biding his time until he could be with her again.

He counted two hundred seventy-nine nutshells left on the path to home. Somehow it kept him calm.

What Daryl would have given for a cellphone, so he could just hear her voice. For a man who never had any use for the phone and never called a girl before, it was the only thing he wanted to do now. They were still a day away from the prison and he had an uneasy feeling. He had to see her and the sooner the better.

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The sun was shining that day; Lisbeth would always remember how it was a beautiful day. She and Andrea had been in the infirmary all day cleaning and disinfecting it, but they took a break and had lunch late outside. Lori joined them since the quarantine was lifted and Lisbeth and Andrea were likely immune to the flu by this time anyway.

The human body was an amazing thing and it never ceased to thrill her, with the things it could do. Becoming a doctor was the best thing she had ever done, she knew that now, in hindsight. Lisbeth had a genuine curiosity about how and why the body did things and it had served her well. It had served them all well. The calling she had felt since childhood that left her in the early days of the turn was back and Hershel had been a big part of that. The man was like a second father to her and they worked side by side now as equals.

"He'll be back; he always comes back," Lori said.

Lisbeth nodded, but she was still worried as always. "I know."

The three friends ate and talked to each other, enjoying the beautiful weather oblivious to the danger that was headed their way.

Andrea stood up. "I'm going back, you stay a few."

"Thanks." Lisbeth smiled up at her, never knowing that she wouldn't see Andrea for a long time after that moment.

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Lisbeth was way back in the infirmary on the opposite side of the gates and towers when it happened and she didn't even know what was going on until Merle came running through the door. He looked like he had seen hell and actually he did. Merle had just seen his worst nightmares come true.

He had a gun and a backpack and he was hollering for her, but she didn't hear him because she had been down on her knees cleaning the floor, it was her last chore of the day. From there she planned to go eat something and collapse in her bed.

But it wasn't meant to be.

"Come on Cookie, we gotta go." He said reaching for her and when she turned around, she saw fear in his eyes for the first time ever.

Merle never got scared and he was always calm. To see him like this struck fear in her heart even before she knew what was happening.

"What's wrong?" She cried and then she heard it, a missile aimed straight at the guard tower hit and the floor where they stood was rocked on its end. "Merle, what is wrong."

"Come on, I'll tell you later." He said. "Move it Cookie."

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The prison was on fire when they pulled up but they had seen the smoke for miles before they ever got there. Daryl had floored it all the way back and when they got there they were dumbfounded by what they saw.

Hershel was dead along with so many others and the reality of what happened didn't even sink in until he stood at the gates and assessed the damages.

Tyreese and Bob immediately went off to look for Sasha and Karen and Daryl stood at what was left of the gate. There was destruction and walkers everywhere and it didn't look like the same place, or like anyone was left alive.

Daryl looked around for her with eyes clouded with unshed tears, that he would not let come. Not yet.

Had he come and kidnapped her? Because she was a doctor and he knew that? To get even with him and Merle for what happened to his town?

To his utter horror he spotted a dark-haired figure in the distance, its hair looked like Lisbeth's and its gait told him that it was dead. He was on his knees in a second, it just couldn't be and the realization was like a knife to his heart.

The tears came and he stayed there on the ground letting it all out then he stood up and wiped them away with the back of his hand. It was time to be a man this one last time for her.

Daryl stumbled through the gate, grieving and so angry, pushing the other geeks out of the way to get to her. He had to do it for her, one last mercy and she would be free. It was the last thing he could do for her, and he wouldn't fail her, not now.

The rage he felt astounded him as he ran towards the walker, he had never felt anything like it, but underneath it his heart was broken.

Nothing hurt more than the empty feeling that washed over him as he ran past the gate towards what he thought was his dead wife. He pulled out his knife as he turned it around still thinking it was her. She wouldn't want to be left this way, they had many talks about it and this was paramount. They would put each other down if it came to it.

Then he turned it around and gasped out a sob of relief so deep he was sure every walker around would hear him, it wasn't her. He dispatched with it and turned back towards the tower.

Merle had written in spray paint on the wall by the burning guard tower. "I got her" but there was no one around. The only sound was the growling of the dead. He dropped his crossbow lower on his shoulder and tried to think of a way to track them.

There hadn't been time for Merle to give any direction at all, but at least he knew she was with him. That was comforting, but not by much.

The sound of a car squealing down the path from the back of the prison scared the hell out of him until Shane and Andrea pulled up.

"Get the fuck in now," Shane yelled and he didn't hesitate, he jumped in the back yelling that Bob and Tyreese were inside looking for their women.

"Well, God help them," Andrea said as they took off down the road. He looked out the window for survivors and he thought he saw Glenn and a dark haired women disappearing into the woods, but he wasn't sure and he didn't know her. In the end they didn't go looking for them, not until the next day. They were too shell shocked to even think of a plan after what they just saw.

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Merle dragged her through the woods until neither of them could run anymore. Each of them took down walkers as they came and protected each other as they got farther and farther away from their destroyed home.

They stopped by a tree to catch their breath but Merle wanted to keep going. He knew of a shack out this way and he wanted to get her there before nightfall. Sleeping on the ground again was not an option, they had no supplies and they almost froze to death the night before.

"We got to get as far away from there as possible sis, that bastard is gonna come back and pick us off one at a time if we don't."

Lisbeth nodded, and she understood. "Will he…" She couldn't bring herself to say it.

"Listen here, my brother learned from me how to track, he will find us. He'll know to leave the prison, and he is gonna catch up to us." He said falling into step with her, trying to set her mind at ease but not even able to convince himself.

They walked through the woods for half a day. Merle broke the news to her about Hershel and dried her tears with a rag he had in the back pack until they were all gone. She had lost another father and as he hugged her, he whispered softly to her the things you say to a grieving person, mostly how sorry he was for her and Hershel's daughters.

Lisbeth questioned him about where they were going and what they were going to do and Merle assured her he had a plan, if she would just be patient. She tried, but it seemed like they had been walking for days. Of course she knew that wasn't true, but she was distraught now over leaving before Daryl got back.

Close to noontime she was asking to stop but then they saw the shack and Lisbeth looked over at him. It all made some kind of sense to her now.

"You knew this was here?"

Merle nodded as they went closer, but their steps were halted when a bullet hit right in front of their boots. They both jumped back and Merle stepped in front of her.

On the porch stood a woman in jeans and a flannel shirt, Lisbeth's age probably, and she was holding a rifle. She had fiery red hair, piled high on her head and she looked like she took no shit. Period.

"Hold on there missy, we don't mean you no harm," Merle said as they both held their hands up.

"You all from that explosion that happened yesterday." She said not allowing them to come closer and not taking the gun off of them.

"Yes," Lisbeth said. "Have you seen anyone, a man with a crossbow?"

The woman shook her head. "Ain't seen anyone but ya'll."

Lisbeth took a step forward and Merle held her back, trying to keep her out of harm's way.

"Gimme that gun mister." She said motioning to Merle's rifle.

"Sure thing darlin," Merle said coming closer, still keeping Lisbeth behind him. In the event that Daryl did catch up to them, no, when he caught up to them, Merle didn't want to have to explain to him if she was hurt. This girl was not kidding and he was not trying to get shot.

"Don't call me darlin." The woman said as she yanked Merle's rifle from his hand. "Names Candy with a Y."

"Well." Merle cracked a smile for the first time in forever. "Candy with a Y, how long you been out here, cause, I scouted this place just last month. You were not here and I hope to hell you didn't drink all that moonshine in the shed right there or eat all the food." He said pointing his prosthetic hand at the shed off to the back of the driveway.

"What happened to your hand?" She asked, finally lowering her gun but still keeping it on them.

"Invite a couple of weary travelers in for a drink and I'll tell you all about it Candy with a Y."

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Over the course of the night and the next day Candy told them how she came to be alone at the shack and it wasn't a pretty story. She had lost her entire family when the turn came and had been on her own walking in the woods to stay out of sight. She had seen the governor and others like him and thankfully managed to stay one step ahead of all of them.

It took all afternoon of the second day for her to tell them what she had seen out there, Candy was a lawyer in the other world, a prosecutor, smart and clever. It had served her well now and she had survived alone.

There was a group of men rounding up women like cattle, their leader carried a bat and as she talked about the things she saw Lisbeth's skin crawled. Daryl had predicted that men would take to the lawlessness like fish to water and just do whatever the fuck they wanted to, and he had been right.

Men like the Governor, who would come and destroy their home, and like the man who beat people to death with his bat.

It was an awful world they lived in and Daryl had helped her grow strong in it. Merle must have read her mind because now he was asking her more questions.

"You sure you didn't see a long haired guy with a crossbow?" Merle asked and she shook her head, noticing Lisbeth's shoulders sag at the news. They were sitting on the front porch and had a view of the woods from all around.

If he came, or anyone did they would see them, Merle was taking watch that night so the two women could sleep, not that he thought Lisbeth would sleep at all, he knew she wouldn't. Still, he had told Daryl he would take care of her and he intended to do just that.

Merle hoped Daryl would figure out where they had gone, and soon. He knew Merle had stashed supplies here in the event that things went to shit, Merle just hoped he'd connect the dots.

Lisbeth looked out over the trees with her hand blocking the sun, it was another beautiful day and she was in misery.

She would give anything to see him come walking through the trees, anything.

"He's out there, Cookie, he'll find us," Merle said sipping the clear moonshine that Candy shared with them.

"We should go find him." She said. "What if he's hurt, what if the Governor found him."

Lisbeth stood up and Merle grabbed her arm.

"We don't even know how far away he was…" Merle explained. "And he knows how to stay out of sight believe me. I taught him well."

"I don't doubt that Merle but you didn't leave him enough information to find us." She hissed as she sat back down on the steps and immediately regretted it, he knew it too and shrugged it off. She loved his brother and for that, he would forgive her this indiscretion.

The sitting and waiting was what was worst of all for her, she was an action type of person and in this world that wasn't always a good thing.

"I just can't sit here, it's been over a day since we got here, two since the…"

"Sit down Lisbeth, drink your shine and tomorrow we'll decide our next move if he ain't found us by then." Then he turned to Candy with a grin. "Those stale potato chips still here, there must have been twenty bags in that pantry last time I was here."

"Got a few, and I scavenged up some beef jerky and canned stuff from a store up the road." Candy said and Lisbeth looked over at her. The closest store was miles away, there was literally nothing out there but woods.

Candy had done what she had been too terrified to do, she managed on her own from the beginning and survived. While Lisbeth sat in a department store with a hand full of pills, this girl had been out there making it.

"I admire you," Lisbeth said. "You're a strong woman."

"Don't we all gotta be now." She replied.

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Shane threw another log on the fire as the three of them sat in the dirt in the dark. Daryl stared into the fire, remembering all the nights he sat with her in front of the fire in the quarry. It seemed so long ago now. All the talks they had while on watch, all the books she talked about, their fights about music. And now she wasn't here.

It felt un-natural to him and he couldn't shake the feeling that he was doing the wrong thing by staying where they were right now.

How could she just be gone? He couldn't live without her and he wouldn't for one minute longer.

They had run out of gas very soon after they left the prison and to him it seemed like they were walking around in circles trying to find the others. He appreciated that it was what they had to do, but he was only concerned with finding Lisbeth and Merle. If that was selfish, so be it, she was his entire life now.

The night came and it was the hardest for him, being with her every night was a habit now, and he missed her like a part of him was gone.

"Merle's got her man," Shane said as he sat down next to him. "We'll find them."

"How do you even know? Did you see which way they went?" Daryl turned to him and met him nose to nose.

"No man, we didn't," Shane replied solemnly.

Andrea looked up at him like a war torn soldier, too weary to even answer him. The things she had seen that day were terrifying, and she couldn't speak for fear of making them real.

"She looked after all ya'll and not one of you looked after her? But you don't care about that do ya, cause that's your woman sitting right there." He waved towards Andrea, then he stood up. "I ain't sitting around here anymore."

Shane stood up to try and stop him but Daryl wasn't having it. "Come on man don't be stupid."

"What's stupid is sitting around and I'm done with that," Daryl said as he stalked off into the woods, waving his crossbow in a bitter goodbye to them as he slung it over his shoulder. "I got to find her."

He walked off knowing it wasn't the smartest thing to do, that there was safety in numbers, but he couldn't stop his body from ignoring his brain, or his heart.

His heart wanted to go and that was what was in control of him now.

 ** _The next part is almost done being edited and I'll post it very soon. Thank you for reading xoxox_**


	6. I'm alot like you

Five- I'm a lot like you

"Daryl's a real dick when he drinks," Merle said as they sat opposite each other on the porch of the house. It was sunset and they had eaten a meager meal and rested, while Merle entertained her with stories about him and Daryl as kids.

He was careful to only tell stories of the shenanigan's they got into or tales of hunting and fishing, nothing about their parents. Merle didn't like remembering that part at all, much less speaking of it.

Lisbeth listened to Merle but she watched the woods intently, and that was her first priority. She willed him to come through the trees but he didn't and each time she didn't see him, her hope faded just a little bit more.

The night would have been perfect if only he was here. It was a beautiful sunset and the thought of maybe not sharing another with him made her heart hurt.

After they had been at the shack for a day or more Merle noticed Lisbeth was getting more and more antsy to move on. She was pacing at times and he knew she cried herself to sleep every night since the shit went down.

So that's when Merle began telling her stories and it seemed to calm her, she even smiled occasionally, when he told a particularly funny story. He had introduced her to the moonshine that day and she knew it wasn't a good idea. But the sadness she felt in her heart needed it and so she drank to fill that empty space inside of her now.

Sometimes you just needed to forget and she would allow herself this.

Merle's stories were good and he never seemed to run out of them. He was entertaining and distracting, a real showman when he spoke.

"Pass me a smoke, will ya." She said.

"Smoking now too, you know I'm gonna get blamed for taking you down the dark road." Merle said as he tossed her the cigarettes and lighter.

"Don't you worry." Lisbeth said, lighting the cigarette. "I won't dime you out."

Merle laughed and then she was laughing and it seemed like maybe things would be ok, for a moment. Between Lisbeth laughing and Candy just being there, Merle felt hopeful that life wasn't over for any of them, or for Daryl.

"I dunno, now I got you drinking and smoking." He said.

"Not anything I haven't done before." She said. "I assure you, big brother."

So Merle settled in for another story, there were hundreds of them and he could keep her here a long time.

It made her happy in some way and he was going to keep on going if that's what it took. Candy was amused by his stories as well and every once in a while, she giggled from behind the book she had her nose in.

Candy was reading a book about Herbology and home gardening by the light of a lantern and Lisbeth was getting more and more wasted on the nasty moonshine they were drinking.

"He never drinks," Lisbeth replied softly, getting lost in a memory of him and a couch at the CDC. "Just that one time with me."

"Cause, he knows what it does to the men in our family, but he was a fan of the Kush." Merle laughed as Lisbeth's eyes grew wide and Merle nodded. "A real pothead back in the day. Made him mellow as the wind. Hey, Candy, you got any way that we can grow some ganga up in here?"

Candy looked over at him over the top of her book and shook her head slowly and Merle replied with a wink.

"We aren't staying," Lisbeth said. "Don't get too cozy here."

"Lisbeth," Merle said. "Don't you think it would be good to stay in one place?"

"No, I don't." She said. "I'll go alone if I have to." She took a sip of her drink. "You know I will."

"Woman, you are some kind of a bitch when you drink." He said, then he held his hand up. "No offense."

"Gimmie that." She reached for the mason jar of clear liquid that would surely send her to oblivion and that's where she wanted to be.

"Think you had enough." Merle teased.

"Think you better give it here." She scooted over and took the jar before he could stop her. "I'm getting fucked up and you aren't stopping me."

"Unwise in these times Cookie," Merle said meeting her eyes as she took a long gulp. "Guess I'm on watch if you're getting drunk."

"Guess so." She said. "But this stuff is nasty, did you drink any of it?' She turned to Candy.

"Hell no, I don't wanna die." Candy said with a laugh.

Merle draped his arm over Candy's shoulder. "Don't worry sugar, it won't kill ya."

"You ever make moonshine Merle?" Lisbeth asked with a slight slur to her speech.

"Maybe." He grinned.

"And Daryl got high?"

Merle nodded.

"Tell me more about him when he was young."

"He ever tell you about the fight he got into with my janky drug dealer?"

Lisbeth shook her head and smiled a lopsided smile as Merle went into another story about the adventures of Daryl and Merle. He felt like he was in that fairytale where the woman told stories every night to prevent the king from killing her. He was doing the same and preventing her from leaving before Daryl could figure out where they were.

Merle had gotten her through another day and she thanked him afterwards for his kindness, and apologized for when she hadn't been entirely kind to him.

"I'll take watch." Candy said. "Relieve me at four."

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Lisbeth felt something on top of her and at first, she thought it was Merle, but he was on the floor in the corner. She could see him from where she was. He had been a sweet gentleman and given her the couch to sleep on, which was cold and uncomfortable, but better than the floor for sure. But now there was a hand over her mouth and she couldn't see because it was dark as the grave in the room.

Merle wasn't moving and it looked like she was going to have to fight for her life before he would notice someone was there.

She was not becoming some assholes concubine, Daryl's words ringing through her ears from a conversation so long ago.

She struggled in fear and fought like he taught her to, scratching at the side of whoever's face it was, then she bit the hand hard. When she finally stopped fighting and looked she couldn't believe her eyes or the eyes she was looking into.

"It's me." Daryl hissed. "Will ya knock off the fighting."

"Oh, oh." She threw her arms around his neck and pulled him down on top of her. "Oh my God, oh my god you're here."

She wrapped her arms and legs around him and pulled him closer, not believing it was really him and not wanting to let him go if it was a dream.

"You smell like a brewery," Daryl said, kissing her all over her face and the kisses were mixed with her tears as she let it all out. Three days of worrying about him, three days, fifteen hours, ten minutes. She had been keeping track. "You been drinking Liz?"

"Yeah, we kinda had a few cocktails." She slurred.

"Dammit Lisbeth, why do we always end up on a couch drunk together." He laughed and she giggled kissing him back with everything she had inside of her. It was the best kiss of her life.

Part of her, a very dark part had been afraid she'd never see him again, and he told her the same. "I thought you were gone forever and I just wanted to forget. I was losing hope"

"You ain't getting rid of me that easy." He said kissing her again.

"Hey," Merle called from the other side of the room. "You two wanna cool it so's I can get some sleep."

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I'm a lot like you, so please, hello, I'm here, I'm waiting. I think I'd be good for you and you'd be good for me.

El Scorcho by Wheezer

Candy walked up behind Merle the next morning as he smoked on the porch at daybreak and handed him a water bottle and a package of beef jerky. It was another sunny day and he was up before everyone else, just coming off watch.

Candy had slept in a while but being on her own, sleep was always fitful and short. She was a strong woman, but she had been alone a long time. Merle had found out a few more things about her and it was a miracle that she had made it this far and he had been trying to convince her to join up with them.

She was smart and self-taught herself the things she needed to survive this long but she knew her luck would run out one day. She needed to be with other people, it was lonely and she was ready to have some company.

"You hungover?"

"Fuck no, honey. I don't get hung over." He smiled at her.

"He came walking out of the woods around two am." She said. "I almost shot him, but then I saw the crossbow. Told him what he was looking for was just inside."

"You're a good woman Candy." He said, slipping his hand around her shoulder. "I knew he'd remember this place. He just needed to put himself in my shoes, think 'What would Merle do?"

"You're pretty smart aren't you?"

"I do alright." Merle answered. "Thanks for letting us wait here."

Candy shrugged. "It was your place, you set it up, I just moved in."

"You know, you're a good shot." He said, looking down at her gun leaned up against the house.

"Taught myself." She grinned.

"Impressive." Merle said, nodding his head. "You give any thought to what I said last night?"

She nodded. "I don't want to be alone anymore."

"You don't have to be sugar."

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"Fuck, my head hurts," Lisbeth said as she rolled over on the couch and into Daryl's face, she stared at him, still not believing he was really there. They had finally fallen asleep and now she was paying for all the moonshine she drank the day before. Daryl grinned down at her and kissed her softly. It had to be almost two pm, and they had slept a full eight hours. He because he had walked for hours and hours to get to the old shack he remembered Merle telling him about and she because she drank moonshine all day the day before.

"I got the cure for that right here." He grinned at her and threw his leg over hers and going after the hem of her shirt. "You bad girl drinking shine with my brother all day."

"I was so sad, Daryl." She replied. "Broken."

He pushed a lock of her hair out of her face and stared down at her. "I told you, I'd always come back to you."

"I know, I wanted to go out looking but Merle insisted we stay, I thought he was trying to nail Candy."

"No doubt, I'm sure he is." He laughed. "But he thought I would come here obviously and once I started walking I realized where he would have gone."

"I'm so grateful he made me stay."

"Got ya drunk." He laughed.

She smiled at him and kissed him again. He pulled her closer and brought his hand under her shirt and pressed against her with obvious intention.

"I got me drunk, not him." She replied and kissed him again. She couldn't get enough of his kisses and they had some lost time to make up for.

"I got something right here for you." He rasped into her ear and her whole body reacted.

He leaned down and kissed her neck, the feel of his lips after she had thought he was gone was the most wonderful feeling she could imagine and she dug her hands into his hair with desperation.

"Wait no." She said.

"Your head." He stopped. "Sorry, I wasn't thinking."

"No, not my head." She laughed. "Your brother and Candy just outside."

"Oh." He grinned. "He won't come in here till we come out."

"What?" She looked up at him. "What did you hang a tie on the doorknob?"

He grinned. "Kinda, it's just a guy thing."

She shook her head laughing.

"I'll be fast, I promise." He said bringing his hands down to her pants. "I need you, baby, please."

Lisbeth sat up. "Nice try Romeo, let's go to the creek out back and wash up."

"Fine." He said with a smile. "You got to be difficult don't ya?"

"That's why you love me." She grinned.

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The water was cold but neither of them felt it. They were so grateful to be together that it didn't matter, nothing mattered and as soon as they came up from the water they were in each-other's arms. He backed her up against a fallen tree that was laying across the creek and she wrapped her legs around him.

It was shallow enough that his feet hit the bottom and he grasped her legs and pulled her closer to him. They stared at each other as if they hadn't seen each other in years, even if in reality it had just been a few days. A few days was a lifetime if you thought the person you loved might be dead.

"I know it's not really appropriate to want this right now, but we're alive, as best I know Shane and Andrea and Glenn are too." Daryl said to her as his lips found hers. "I just need you."

"I think it's very normal and natural to want to feel, and I need you just as much." She said as she pushed his wet hair out of his face and brought her hands down over his neck. "Make me feel good Daryl."

His lips were on hers and then on her neck soft and wet, and she felt his teeth raking across the smooth flesh of her neck. He bit her softly and she moaned out loud, there was no one to hear them and she didn't care if they did. In one move he sucked on her neck and pushed his dick inside of her.

Lisbeth felt the bark of the tree scrape across her back and the feeling of him filling her up was almost too much. She felt alive again, as if the last four days had been some kind of awful dream, and she held on tight to him and returned the thrusts from his hips with her own.

"That's it baby, fuck me." She moaned, letting her head fall back against the tree and feeling the water swirl all around them as they moved. "Give it all to me."

"All for you sweetheart." He growled, pushing into her faster and faster. "All for you."

She couldn't get close enough to him and she couldn't take her hands off his skin or her lips off of his. They had been together a short time, the days passing by and yet it felt like a lifetime for them, a lifetime since the turn brought them together and there was no time to waste.

"Your back ok?" He asked, noticing she was pushed up on the tree.

"I'm fine." She said, pushing her hips into hi. "I'm fine."

"Oh God I missed you." He held her tight like he might never let her go. "I'm never leaving you again."

He kissed all around her face and caressed her thighs, putting a hand behind her back to keep her from hitting the tree. Daryl knew neither of them was going to last long and he just went with it, no games this time, just pure raw feeling.

"Touch yourself." He whispered in her ear. Then his eyes went wide and dark as he watched her bringing her hands over her breasts. He couldn't stop looking at her as her wet hands slipped around her nipples, the sight of it made him dizzy and love drunk. He grasped her harder and pulled her up against himself, away from the tree. "Oh, that's so good."

"Mmmm…so good." She moaned, now slipping one hand between them and his eyes followed. The visual he got made his knees weak and he was totally lost to her.

Daryl watched her hand moving against her own body and he was hypnotized by the sight before him.

"Kiss me." He pleaded and she did, he opened her lips with his and pushed his tongue in her mouth and kissing her hard and dirty. "You close; I want to feel you cum."

"Yes." Lisbeth moaned again and he felt her all around him, her body pulling his own orgasm out of him and it took his breath away. "I'm cumming."

"Oh, fuck yes." He roared. "Fuck, YES."

Every nerve in his body pulsed as she shuddered around him and he couldn't let go of her for a long time. They held each other in the water and allowed their breathing and heartbeats to return to normal and even then they didn't move.

"I'm never leaving you again." He mumbled into her neck. "Never again."


	7. Mr Brightside

**_Lots of lyrics to set the mood of the flashbacks in this chapter. Hope you'll let me know what you think xoxoxox Krissy._**

"Tell me what you were like as a kid," Lisbeth said as they sat by the fire that night after they all walked what seemed like miles. They had all reunited with the group after meeting them on the train tracks after Carol had blown Terminus to kingdom come.

They had found an old barn and were all huddled around outside of it, later they would all go to sleep inside. The group was back together and despite being followed by walkers all day and having little water or food, they were still all so grateful they had found each other again.

Daryl, Lisbeth, Merle and Candy had never made it to Terminus, but they had been headed that way. They had seen the signs and shrugged to themselves that they had nowhere else to go, so why not. Then they had seen the smoke and a few miles of walking lead them to the rest of their group. It was a wonderful reunion with hugs for everyone.

Now they all sat around a small fire, still not believing they were all together again. Rick, Michonne, Glenn, Maggie and Carol told them of all of the things they saw at Terminus and introduced them to the new members of their group. But the best thing of all was that Carl and Judith were with them, other children didn't make it and they mourned them, but these two were alive and safe.

That was everything.

The four newcomers to the group, Tara, Eugene, Abraham and Rosita seemed likable enough and they were all concerned that the termites might be following. Someone would take watch, likely more than one person and keep them all safe as they slept.

"You don't wanna hear about that." Daryl replied.

"Yes, I do, I'll tell you some." Lisbeth smiled and he seriously could not resist her dimples, ever.

"We were teenagers in two different decades, it had to be so different." He said blowing smoke from his cigarette.

"Something tells me it was a little the same." She grinned. "I still can't believe you grew up in Senoia, you were so close to Montgomery."

"Our paths crossed a few times, we know that already and who knows, maybe they did then." He took her hand, still not believing that they were together again.

He would never let her out of his sight, not for anything.

"I bet you were a Brainiac." Daryl said. She had been head of the ER at the age of 32, he knew his girl was smart.

"I was, but I had a rebellious time."

"Do tell." He said.

"You first."

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Senoia, Ga—1994- Daryl age 17, Lisbeth age 11

Daryl ran out of the house as his father staggered to the door with his fist in the air, the man slammed the door and uttered a curse as Daryl ran down the driveway.

Daryl made it to the truck, with ease because the old man never left the house except to go get booze and Daryl and Merle made sure to not be home too often. He punched the gas and got the fuck out of there, as he drove down the street he pushed a CD into the player and turned it up. His favorite band Bush was the CD, he had played 'Sixteen Stone' over and over when he got it and it gave him peace somehow.

Merle had taken him to see Bush every time they toured, once they drove all the way to Charlotte to see them, sleeping in the car at intervals and making the trip in three days.

The old man never noticed they were gone.

Merle was already at work so he would go see him, but first he just cruised around, stopping at a convenience store. As he pulled into the parking lot to go buy smokes, he sat in the truck just catching his breath. He listened to the words of the song that was playing and contemplated life. Someday he and Merle were getting out of here, they were saving and planning and it wouldn't always be this way.

"Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out  
Breathe in  
Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out  
Breathe in

Tied to a wheel fingers got to feel  
Bleeding through a tar-decay smile  
I spin on a whim; I slide to the right  
I felt you like electric light

For our love, for our fear  
For our rise against the years and years and years."

He watched the customers going in and out of the store, noticing a man with two little brown haired girls. He held their hands as they walked into the store and Daryl wished for a smiling father like that. He watched as they came out a few minutes later with Slurpee for the girls and the father too.

Slurpee were the shit and Daryl still loved them even though he wasn't a kid anymore.

That man wasn't a drunk and his father had never bought him a damn thing his entire life. Those kids were lucky and he hoped they knew just how lucky. He got out and went for cigarettes and his own Slurpee quickly and when he came out the man was hugging each little girl as he secured them in the back seat of his car.

The girls smiled at him and looked like they thought the man hung the moon, they did know and that made Daryl smile.

Not all fathers were bastards he mused as he watched them leave, then he got in his truck and left.

"For our love, for our fear  
For our rise against the years and years and years

Got a machinehead, it's better than the rest  
Green to red machinehead  
Got a machinehead, it's better than the rest  
Green to red

And I walk from my machine  
I walk from my machine"

He pulled up to the garage where Merle worked and lit a cigarette. He leaned against the truck before going in and let out a breath. The scene with the little girls had touched him, and he couldn't get it out of his mind. It was nice to watch and to know other kids didn't live the way he had to all his life, it gave him hope for the world and hope for himself.

Merle met him at the door and looked at him with eagle eyes. Daryl had a black eye that he didn't have that morning when Merle left for work.

"You ok?" Merle asked.

"I'm fine." He said shaking his hair out of his face. "He wasn't that fast this time."

"Fast enough, could have been worse and you know it." Merle said. "Come on let's get some ice for that."

Merle led him in the garage and into the office where he retrieved ice from the freezer of a small refrigerator they had there. He grabbed a plastic bag and put the ice in it and handed it to his brother. Daryl sat on the desk and put the ice on his face. The radio was on in the shop Merle's favorite band Tool, the song was "Forty-Six and Two."

"See my shadow changing,  
Stretching up and over me.  
Soften this old armor.  
Hoping I can clear the way  
By stepping through my shadow,  
Coming out the other side.  
Step into the shadow.  
Forty six and two are just ahead of me."

"He's hungover and being a dick, Daryl. You just have to keep out of his way." Merle cautioned.

"I was." Daryl replied. "I was sleeping and he busted in my room looking for money."

"Yeah." Merle smiled. "He don't know about the safe we got here."

Merle leaned against the desk next to Daryl. The safe with all their earnings was right across from them, keeping their meager savings safe.

"You and I are getting out of there soon, you just hang in there brother ok?"

"I got a few in too, don't you worry."

"That's my little hell raiser." Merle threw his arm over Daryl's shoulder. "Come on, its lunchtime, how does pizza sound?"

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Montgomery, GA -2003- Lisbeth age 17, Daryl age 23

Lisbeth fired up the joint that she had taped behind the picture above her bed and laid back listening to "Without Me" by Eminem. Everyone was gone for the day and she had no plans except to fire up that joint and lay in bed all day, until Julie got home.

Her father had passed away two months ago and she was having trouble coping. Once a good student, she was on a dark path now. She was pre-med at Georgia State and had graduated high school at age 16 but she just couldn't focus this semester. She wasn't failing but her grades were shit and if she had any hope of going to med school she needed to get it together, fast.

It was all too much sometimes, being somewhat of a child prodigy, the pressure was incredible. Her father had always been so proud of her and without him cheering for her, it became so difficult. Her mother was a different animal and she had problems of her own.

Lisbeth's mother had crawled into the bottle when he died and it didn't look like she was coming out any time soon. So, Lisbeth said fuck it and started getting high. It was a cop out and she knew it and she knew she was a lousy example for her sister.

Julie smelled the pot in her room and on her clothing but she never said a word. In some way that was worse than if she just confronted her.

But Julie, she was still so innocent and Lisbeth owed it to her to set a good example for her. Julie looked up to her and she could not fail her, Julie was still here and Lisbeth was all she had.

Tomorrow she would, to make him proud. Tomorrow she would turn over a new leaf.

"Little hellions kids feeling rebellious  
Embarrassed, their parents still listen to Elvis  
They start feeling like prisoners helpless  
'til someone comes along on a mission and yells "bitch"  
A visionary, vision is scary,  
Could start a revolution, pollutin' the air waves a rebel  
So let me just revel and bask."

She rolled over and looked out the window at her sister standing at the bus stop. She watched her mother stop her car alongside her and say something, then leave. Lisbeth opened the window and leaned out.

"Hey, Julie." She yelled, getting an idea.

The younger, dark-haired girl looked up at the window.

"I'll sign you out after lunch and we can go shopping for your dress." She said as a smile broke out on her 16-year-old sister's face.

"Prom isn't for two months."

"Don't matter, you have to have the best dress," Lisbeth called back. "We have to start early."

"I love you." Julie blew kisses to her. And Lisbeth laid back on the bed to enjoy her last buzz, because tomorrow she was quitting. The music floated through the air and through her mind, relaxing her and she had hope for her life and she would make her father proud.

"Now this looks like a job for me  
So everybody just follow me  
'Cause we need a little controversy  
'Cause it feels so empty without me  
I said, this looks like a job for me  
So everybody just follow me  
'Cause we need a little controversy  
'Cause it feels so empty without me."

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While Lisbeth and Julie were out, their mother was searching their rooms. That was what she did when they were not home. She searched everyday if she could, digging for evidence of wrong doing. The girls weren't bad and their father always tried to convince her, but she never believed it.

Lisbeth finally decided to just do what she wanted that summer, if her mother had such little faith in her then she was done. Julie, being younger and less spirited just went with the flow.

So, everyday their mother read their letters and diaries and searched through drawers. She found Julie's book of poetry she had written hidden under her mattress and sat down to read it.

She never found anything in Lisbeth's room because she never looked behind the pictures.

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At one pm Julie ran down the hall to where Lisbeth was waiting for her by the high school main office, they hugged and walked out the door. They got out to her car in the parking lot and Julie threw her books into the back seat.

"Are you really going to buy my dress." Julie exclaimed, with her face alight with joy. She had been invited to the prom by a junior, and this was her first formal event ever.

"She won't, so yes, I'm going to." Julie leaned across the seat as Lisbeth started the car and hugged her. "Shoes too!"

"I love you so much." She whispered. "I'll pay you back."

"I love you too." Lisbeth started the car. "And you'll do no such thing, it's my treat."

Lisbeth put her sunglasses on and thought about how beautiful life was, driving down the road from the school with the windows down and the radio on. There was nothing quite like feeling young and free, and thinking they would always be together. She wasn't going to get high again, she had other things to do, better things to do for herself and Julie.

If their mother wanted to drink herself into oblivion then so be it, but she was done with it. She told Julie as they drove and Julie took her hand in hers.

"I knew you'd come to your senses." Julie said.

"I'm sorry for letting you down."

"Stop it, you didn't, we've had a bad few months and I get it."

The Killers were Julie's favorite band and they listened to "Mr. Brightside" as they drove along towards the mall on repeat. Lisbeth didn't care if they listened to it all the way there and back, it made her sister happy.

The mall was a few towns away, so the drive wasn't too long, and they talked the whole way as they always did when they were together. They were just ten months apart in age, what their mother had called 'Irish Twins' and closer than any two sisters, they were sure.

Lisbeth would miss her when she went away to med school, but on this day that was far off in the future. They had a day of shopping ahead of them and it was going to be a good time.

And I just can't look - it's killing me  
And taking control  
Jealousy, turning saints into the sea  
Turning through sick lullabies  
Choking on your alibis  
But it's just the price I pay  
Destiny is calling me  
Open up my eager eyes  
'Cause I'm Mr. Brightside.

The girls drove into the parking lot with the music blasting, there was a crowd of people standing around outside, and he watched the car pull in. Two teenagers he thought to himself, out joy riding.

 _Destiny is calling me, open up my eager eyes._

"I fucking hate that song." Merle said as he lit his cigarette and leaned against the wall. Daryl dropped his packages down on the ground and lit his own cigarette.

"It's alright." He replied.

Merle girlfriend of the day, Kelsey started singing the words and both of them laughed. Kelsey was actually good singer and Merle slung his arm around her and kissed the top of her head.

"What?" Kelsey said.

"Nothin." Merle laughed. "Nothin at all."

"Can we go to Applebee's now." Kelsey whined and Daryl rolled his eyes at Merle.

"Anything you want baby." Merle replied.

After they pulled into a parking lot Lisbeth went to light her cigarette but her lighter wouldn't work. She and Julie walked towards the mall door and she noticed two blonde haired men were standing in a group of people. One had short cropped hair and was older and the other had longer hair and was younger.

"Hey?" She said to them. "You got a light, or a jump light."

Daryl pulled out a lighter and lit the cigarette for the girl with the sunglasses on. She was dressed in a black dress in the middle of the summer and her hair was streaked with blue highlights. _Whatever, he thought to himself, bad taste in music and clothes._

"Thanks man." Lisbeth said and she walked away with Julie at her side towards the far door so she could smoke her cigarette. Daryl watched as the two girls held hands walking down the side walk.

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When they got home she was sitting on the couch. They had a beautiful blue dress with them, but their mother wasn't interested in seeing or hearing about it.

"There's no way I'm getting trapped like my sister did." Maria Gerrity said as she blew smoke out of her mouth from the Virginia slim cigarette she brought to her lips.

"What are you talking about," Lisbeth said hanging the dress over the railing to the stairs that led to their bedrooms.

"You aren't going to come home and tell me you're pregnant." Her mother said taking a sip from her ever-present wine glass.

"I'm not having sex Mom," Lisbeth replied.

"Liar."

"Mom, she isn't, she'd tell me if she was." Julie and Lisbeth told each other everything, they each had their own rooms but more often than not they found themselves sleeping in the same bed. They would make popcorn and lay together watching their TV shows and sharing every secret that they couldn't share with their Mom.

"Shut up Julie, she'd lie and you'd swear to it and you." She pointed at Julie. "You better be a good girl."

"I'm not either!" Julie cried. "Do you want to see my dress or what?"

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"You never mentioned a sister before."

"I know," Lisbeth said. "Then it would be real, you know?"

He nodded. He understood her completely and without words. If she didn't talk about her sister, she wouldn't have to face the fact that she was most likely dead.

"I'm so glad you have your brother though." She said quietly. "I think Julie is in a better place."


	8. Chapter 8

**A little love and fluff and smut, after last night, ugggg RIP Abe and Glenn. You will both live on in my fictions forever. xxxxx Krissy**

Daryl sat on the steps of the house they were all staying in at the Alexandria Safe Zone looking out over the sleepy town. It was lovely, really and he could appreciate the beauty before him. He could appreciate that it was a beautiful day, in a beautiful place. Even though it was so foreign to him.

This was a neighborhood he had only dreamed of living in as a child. A neighborhood that if he and his friends rode their bikes through they would have been chased out with haste. That maybe he and Merle would have envied.

Now he lived here, for better or worse. Rick wanted to stay and so they all would stay, for the children, Carl and Judith. They would try and make it a safe place for them. A good place for them to grow up.

The children deserved that. But changes had to be made, and fast.

They had been there a short time and already he knew it wouldn't last the way it was, not the way these people were, all dressed up like it was a garden party. Going on about life as if the dead didn't walk and people like The Governor and Gareth didn't exist.

Ah, but he knew they did, and there would be more out there like them. Some might be worse, if that was possible, but in a world where the dead walked you had to know that _anything was possible. And you had to be ready for it._

His mind was heavy with thought, as he watched people walking to and from where ever they were going, doing their little jobs, like they didn't have a care in the world, and they didn't.

They didn't know what was out there, not really. He turned and looked over at the house next door, where the rest of the group was. He didn't like that they were separated.

He, Lisbeth, Merle, Candy, Carol, Tara and Eugene were in one house and Rick, Carl, Michonne, Maggie, Glenn, Abe and Rosita were in the other, which was right next door. He wasn't used to them not being all on top of each other, even in the prison, they had been in one place together.

The security of that was something he missed now.

Daryl smoked his cigarette as he contemplated their situation, improved, yet the same in so many ways. This was just another prison and it would fall eventually. There was no safe place anymore, Rick was right about that. Alexandria would fall, like the prison and they had to be ready. Or they had to fix it.

Still, everyone was happy about the creature comforts they now had. They enjoyed showering whenever they wanted to with hot water, a step up from the cold well water showers they had at the prison. They enjoyed having food and water, having ice cubes.

It was surreal and he wasn't used to it. Sleeping in a bed and having the things they needed was unknown to him and it made him uncomfortable, even before the turn. Now it just blew his mind apart. He, Rick and Carol had agreed that they would be on their guard, because they knew better than anyone how a false sense of security could make you vulnerable. Carol was dressing and acting like one of them, but he knew her. She had a plan, he had seen her and Lisbeth talking on the back deck the other day, and Lisbeth was nodding her head vigorously as they spoke.

Maybe they were in on something together, he didn't know and he didn't ask, then. But he was going to soon, because he didn't want either of them in danger.

He was vulnerable enough because of his love for Lisbeth and he knew it. Love made you sloppy and he was trying his best to keep his head. But the fact was as her husband he felt responsible for her well-being and that weighed on him daily.

She was a smart woman and he had taught her all he knew, but the thought of losing her was terrifying to him and he supposed the same for her. They protected each other all this time, all the different places they were and protected the group that had their backs as well.

They were all a team now, looking out for each other. They would all have to be extra diligent now, because no one else around here would be. If she and Carol were planning something he wanted to know what the fuck it was.

After a while, Lisbeth came outside with Iced Tea for both of them and sat down next to him. He had been acting strange since they got there a week ago and she knew him, he didn't trust it. She could see the wheels spinning in his head, and she knew he was heavy hearted over this entire place.

"I know you don't want to go to this, but we got to." She said handing him his glass. He took it and took a long sip of the cold iced tea complete with ice cubes. It tasted wonderful, but so did some poisons that insidiously creeped into your life and that's what this place was to him. _Fucking ice cubes!_

"Who throws a fuckin party in the middle of the end of the world." He said looking over at her. "Seriously."

Lisbeth shrugged. "Ya got me, but we need to go get cleaned up and go to this thing. For no other reason than to see what the hell these people are doing." She looked over at him and from the look on his face she could tell he wasn't buying it. "Daryl, I'll put some nice music on and we can take a shower, take turns washing each other." She leaned over and whispered the last part in his ear. "I'll let you do that thing you like…"

She kissed him softly.

"I'm going to wear a dress." She said sweetly. She knew he had a weakness for girls in dresses, but he eyed her sideways. "With my combat boots, don't get all huffy, but I found heels, I can wear those for you." She purred into his ear. "Later, just for you."

"You trying to bribe me with sex to go to this party." He grinned, still looking sideways at her. That was her, she had him wrapped around her little finger and she knew it. They hadn't made love since the time in the stream and that was weeks ago. She was tempting him with something he wanted so desperately.

Being here in this place had him on edge, and the feeling of dread still stayed with him, as if they were still walking down that horrible road in the heat without water or food.

"Yup, whatever it takes babe. I'll take one for the team." She laughed and he went to grab for her but she was too fast. Lisbeth was on her feet in front of him and grabbing for his hand. "It's a dirty job…"

She said pulling off her boots, pulling her sweatshirt over her head and unbuttoning her pants, right there on the front porch in front of God and the neighbors and everyone, with a huge grin on her face. He looked up at her in just a tank top and jeans and licked his lips.

"You better start running woman because when I catch you, you're gonna pay for that." He said as she ran past him, into the house and up the stairs towards the bathroom off of the bed room they shared. Daryl was right behind her, stopping only to lay his crossbow down on a table near the door and to toe off his boots.

When he got to their room she had put on some music and was already in the bathroom stripping off her clothes. She picked David Bowie, and in his opinion, the best song. "Heroes." It still amazed him that these people had electric and hot water and fucking ice cubes. They had a CD player in their room for God's sake.

"""I, I will be King  
And you, you will be Queen  
Though nothing will drive them away  
We can be heroes just for one day  
We can be us just for one day.""""

Lisbeth peered out the door at him and whistled as he took off his vest and shirt in haste. She had already taken off her clothes.

"Slowly, slowly, it's too good a job to rush." She called out to him.

He looked over at her as he unbuckled his pants. "You ain't right."

"Just get in here." She said turning on the water. "Or I'll start without you."

"Pffft, that supposed to be a threat." He said walking towards the bathroom. Once her got there he wrapped his arms around her and she leaned back against him. "You start without me, that just means I get to watch."

"There he is, there's my guy." She kissed the side of his neck and turned around. "Come on. Just for one day, okay. Just you and me."

She took his hand and led him under the waterfall spray of the shower. This house was top of the line, a mansion in his eyes, and they were just giving them away here.

Daryl held her close as the water washed over them, listened to the words to the song and enjoyed her touch as her soapy hands made their way over his chest and back. He allowed his eyes to close and allowed himself this moment with her. Sometimes you just needed a break from your mind and he would take that now.

""""I, I can remember  
(I remember)  
Standing by the wall  
(By the wall)  
And the guns, shot above our heads  
(Over our heads)  
And we kissed, as though nothing could fall  
(Nothing could fall)

And the shame, was on the other side  
Oh, we can beat them, forever and ever  
Then we could be heroes just for one day

We can be heroes  
We can be heroes  
We can be heroes just for one day  
We can be heroes."""

He had never showered with anyone before her, no one stuck around that long and he just never had the opportunity before. But he liked it, he was a foot taller than her and when she looked up at him with her clear eyes and wet hair Daryl knew he would never love another woman, for the rest of his life. However long that would be. He prayed that he would go before her, because he didn't want to be in this world without her.

Pushing those grim thoughts from his mind he kissed her and let himself relax against her body. He breathed in her scent, which always calmed him. It was amazing to him that someone could have this effect on him. She calmed him, she calmed the demons inside of him, or maybe her demons just played really well with his.

They had talked about that a few times and it was the same for her, he knew that she inhaled deeply when he hugged her, so that she could smell him.

Daryl often wondered if other couples were like that but soon it didn't matter because once his lips touched hers he was a goner. He pulled her against him and backed her up against the side of the obscenely large shower. There were jets all along the ceiling and walls and no matter where you stood, you had water hitting your body. There was fancy smelling soap and shampoo as if it was a hotel.

It was ironic that this was his home now.

They washed each other silently, but never looking away from each other's eyes. Lisbeth kissed his neck, working her way down his neck as her hand gripped his dick all soapy and slippery. Soon he was lost in the sweet bliss of the water and the woman. He felt his legs buckle at her touch and then he watched, dumbfounded as she slid down along the wall, with her lips making their way down to his stomach.

Then she was on her knees, looking up and him, her teeth sliding slowly along her lower lip. The image before him shot right to his dick and he stared at her intently. Lisbeth stroked him slowly with her hands and then licked the underside of him from base to tip.

Daryl's hands went to her hair as he watched her licking the length of his dick, then took it all the way into her mouth. She was not going to give him a chance to worry about anything at this moment. Not one thing except the two of them.

"Oh fuck, Lisbeth." He moaned watching her slide his dick in and out of her hot mouth, and the hot water beating down on his back at the same time was making him dizzy. He watched her intently, willing himself to hang on and not blow his load like a teenager.

He could only take so much, and he was quickly being overtaken by the feeling and the need to release. They hadn't been together in weeks and it didn't take him long to get to that point. But he wasn't going to let it go, not yet.

Daryl pulled her up to him before he lost it completely and kissed her hard, devouring her mouth with his. As he kissed her dirty and hot he brought his hand over her breast, his hands were still soapy and it was she who's eyes rolled to the back of her head this time. He grinned down at her and kissed her again, pushing his tongue into her mouth and sliding it against hers.

Lisbeth leaned back against the wall as he kissed down her neck and buried his face between her breasts. He licked and slid his wet hands over her breasts as if they had all the time in the world and he heard her suck in a breath. Then one hand was between her legs as he held her hands up over her head with the other, and his mouth was on her nipple licking and then sucking hard.

Nothing in this world or the one before it sounded as good to him as the sounds that she made when he did this. She liked when he restrained her and took control of things, he had found that out a long time ago.

She had asked for it almost from the beginning, and explained that as a doctor, who always had to be in charge, she wanted someone to take care of her. And he did.

To both of their delights, he liked it too and they made a game of it. It wasn't long until she was moaning and begging him to let her cum because he knew just how to touch her. She was so responsive to him this way that it made his dick ache every time. But he enjoyed the buildup, the teasing and playing the game.

"Dammit Daryl." She moaned. "Come on."

"Say please." He whispered into her ear, still holding her hands against the tile, his other hand teasing around her entrance and finally he pushed it inside her.

"Please…" She murmured with closed eyes as he kissed her again, and increased the pressure of his fingers on her clit until she screamed out loud and collapsed against him.

Daryl wasted no time picking her up and sliding inside of her so fast that they both saw stars and groaned together as she wrapped her legs around his waist. Her back was against the tile and he held her under her thighs to keep her up in the air and fucked her like it was the last time he would get to do it.

He looked down as her soapy hand slid between them as she stroked herself and that was it. "Oh, fuck yes." He moaned as he watched and felt her body contracting around him, the warmth radiating off of her and around him was too much. He let go with a string of curses uttered against her neck and pulled her closer still to himself.

"Fuck me, I love you so much." He said as he lowered her down to the ground slowly, but not letting go of her.

Lisbeth laid her head on his shoulder and hugged him to herself. "I love you, forever and always and no matter what."


	9. Chapter 9

_**This chapter came out totally different than I imagined, as they often do. I hope you all like it.**_

'''''''In the end what you don't surrender  
Well, the world just strips away.

Girl, ain't no kindness in the face of strangers  
Ain't gonna find no miracles here.  
Well you can wait on your blesses my darlin'  
But I got a deal for you right here.''''''''' Human Touch by Bruce Springsteen

Lisbeth put on a red dress after their shower, and left her hair long and flowing down her back, which she didn't often do in this world. But she slipped a ponytail holder over her wrist just in case. If she needed her hair out of the way in a hurry, she could do it. You couldn't be too careful, even before the turn.

He liked her hair down, and it was a rare treat that for one night she would give to him. They never let their guard down, ever and he insisted that she braid her hair every night in case they had to leave in a hurry. Daryl was cautious and maybe too cautious, but she loved him and respected his wishes.

It wasn't that he told her what to do, not out of the bedroom, but he thought about things deeply and she knew he figured things out ten steps before anyone else, including her. So she listened to him.

Daryl whistled as he watched her getting ready for the party. He had never watched a woman put lotion on her skin or apply makeup. It just wasn't part of his life before. But he found that he liked it a lot. Lisbeth was his, and he couldn't get enough of watching her.

She sat at a vanity in their room and he on the bed behind her as she sprayed perfume on, something called Opium which he had never heard of. But it suited her, the smell was exotic and earthy but didn't cover her natural scent which he adored.

He had changed into clean jeans and a t-shirt with a button down flannel over it, some poor asshole who was gone had left a shit load of clothes for everyone. The excess of the lifestyle that the person and his family had led left enough for everyone who now lived there.

His loss and all that.

"Did you ever think of having kids Daryl." She said turning around on the little stool she sat on to face him as she laced up her boots, keeping her promise to him to wear them. He didn't answer her right away; he had been taken surprise by the question, and he didn't know what to say.

Lisbeth suspected that, and she waited for his answer, she knew him well enough to know this was a touchy subject. But one she felt she needed to bring up to him. It had been on her mind for so long now, ever since Lori had Judith. Lori was gone now, a victim of the flu that swept through the prison before it fell, but she had carried Judith to term and gave birth with Lisbeth's assistance.

She missed Lori, and her heart sank a little, remembering she was gone. They had lost so many people, and now they were in another group with more people. There were children here and babies.

People talked about children being the greatest asset now in this world, and he knew it was true. One day they would all die, and the human race needed to go on. Logically he knew that.

"That wasn't something I ever let myself think about, Lisbeth." He answered. "You got something you wanna tell me?"

"I told you I have the five-year implant; I was just thinking, that's all." She replied brightly. "I think about it sometimes, if things get stable."

"It's not something I ever thought about before. My childhood was so fucked up; I'm kind of worried about how I would be, what kind of father." He got up and walked to the window and gazed out; she joined him, and they looked out over the street below them. Lisbeth stood behind him and put her arms around him from behind. She laid her face against his back and held him close.

"I think you would be a great father." She said as they watched Rick and Michonne come out of the house next door with Carl and Judith. "I can remove the implant myself if you felt like we should."

He reached down and touched her hand at his waist. "I don't know how I feel about it, in this world." He looked down watching Rick and Michonne walking with Carl and pushing Judith in a stroller, and he couldn't help but want that for himself. For them. "But now you got me thinking about it."

"I always wanted kids." She said. "I know now isn't the time but…"

"Someday…" He kissed the palm of her hand. "We could do that, maybe, someday."

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''''''''I ain't lookin' for praise or pity  
I ain't comin' 'round searchin' for a crutch  
I just want someone to talk to  
And a little of that Human Touch  
Just a little of that Human Touch.'''''''''

The party was in full swing when they all arrived one after the other. The house was beautifully kept, and he wondered for a minute if they had a housekeeper. His mom had been a housekeeper, and this was the kind of place she had worked in, she had called them Mc Mansions, and he smiled remembering that.

Daryl and Lisbeth had walked with Tara and Eugene up the steps to the big house that Deanna and her husband had at the top of a small hill at the end of a cul-de-sac two blocks over from their house. The king and queen are ruling over their kingdom, but kingdoms fell. They all knew that too well.

Merle and Candy were following behind them, talking quietly to themselves.

Merle smiled at the sight of his brother holding hands with Lisbeth; it was something he never thought he would see. There was a time when he didn't think either of them would ever be able to have a relationship with anyone. But Daryl especially had been hurt so badly by their father's abuse; there was a time Merle thought he would never be the same. All along he had always felt that the old man left Daryl alone after he lit out of there. But he later found out that wasn't so, and it broke his heart.

Daryl was healing, though, so was he and that was all that mattered now. They had both put that to bed years ago. Now they both were changing the future, even if they couldn't change the past. It reminded Merle of that quote 'Those who don't learn from the past are doomed to repeat it.' But it was an interesting future that bowed before them now.

"What do you think? Are we safe here?" Candy asked him.

"I think we should never let our guard down sugar." He said as they strolled down the street.

"It's so surreal here like nothing happened."

"Yeah, but we all know it did," Merle said. "Even if these people want to stick their heads in the sand and pretend it didn't."

"Well, I doubt any of them were out there like us."

"Probably not, and we'll educate them, don't you worry," Merle said squeezing her hand as they followed the group down the street.

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'''''''''Ain't no mercy on the streets of this town  
Ain't no bread from heavenly skies.  
Ain't nobody drawin' wine from this blood  
It's just you and me tonight.

Tell me, in a world without pity  
Do you think what I'm askin's too much  
I just want something to hold on to  
And a little of that Human Touch  
Just a little of that Human Touch.''''''''''

They ran into Sasha and Bob who were staying in a house just down the street from them and Rosita and Abe at the party. Abe was drinking a beer and encouraged Daryl to join him out on the deck for a smoke which Daryl took him up immediately. Bob joined them as well, and Abe turned to the three women with them.

"Go mingle girls," Abe said. "Get the 411 about this place."

The girls disappeared back into the house and the party as the men sat in deck chairs outside. Abe lit a cigar and offered one to Daryl who shook his head no and lit a cigarette. Bob accepted one though, and Abe lit it for him. Daryl and Bob had buried the hatchet over their unfortunate run to the vet college, and Bob had been sober ever since.

He was a different person when he wasn't drinking, and everyone saw that. Daryl who had always been slow to forgive anyone gave the man a second chance and encouraged him not to blow it.

"Well, boys, what do you think?" Abe said.

"I think we have a lot of work to do here," Daryl said.

"True," Abe said. "But we can fix this mess here and have lives I think."

"You really think that?" Daryl eyed him.

"Ain't got no choice really, why not here? It's as good as any time right?" Abe said blowing a huge puff of smoke out.

Sasha came back outside and said Deana was giving a toast and they should all come inside. Later there was going to be a brief meeting after dinner, to introduce them to the group and get to know each other.

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'''''Oh girl that feeling of safety you prize  
Well it comes at a hard hard price.  
You can't shut off the risk and the pain  
Without losin' the love that remains  
We're all riders on this train.'''''''''

Lisbeth sat on the porch of the grand house looking out over the entire compound. She could hear the walkers milling around on the other side of the massive walls. She wondered if she would ever get used to that sound. It was louder than at the prison for some reason. She figured because they kept the walker population under control by putting them down.

They didn't do that here, and she wondered why. Very few people went outside the walls, and she saw a problem with that too. She and Candy had talked about it at an informal meeting when they first arrived and were told by Deana that they would all be given jobs.

Maybe someone would be in charge of the walker population now that they arrived.

Lisbeth was in the clinic with Denise and Candy had yet to be given a job, she told Deana she wanted to put down those walkers outside before the walls came down. Deana had replied that they would never come down, and Candy told her she was insane.

Finally, Lisbeth went outside looking for Daryl, but he was nowhere in sight. So she sat down on the steps and looked around as the sun went down over the beautiful makeshift city they were in now.

Merle and Daryl stood on the second balcony of the house looking down over where Lisbeth was sitting. Denise and Tara had joined her, and she was talking quietly with them, oblivious to the men one story up from her.

"She wants babies," Daryl said exhaling the smoke from his lungs slowly, as Merle turned to him.

"Do you?"

"I didn't, but I'm not so sure right now." He replied.

"I don't think Mom and Dad should have had us; they didn't know what the fuck they were doing," Merle said. "But see, we are aware they didn't know what the fuck they were doing, so that makes us one up on them."

"So, what?" He said. "Does that mean I should change my mind?"

"It means, that you ain't him and never will be and neither am I," Merle said. "We stopped that cycle, just by the way we treat our women, I would think that would translate to children too."

"But this world we live in…" Daryl started.

"Shouldn't stop you from living your life."

333333333333333333333333333333

''''So you've been broken and you've been hurt  
Show me somebody who ain't  
Yeah, I know I ain't nobody's bargain  
But, hell, a little touchup  
and a little paint.

You might need somethin' to hold on to  
When all the answers, they don't amount to much  
Somebody that you could just to talk to  
And a little of that Human Touch.'''''''

Daryl rolled over in the bed and looked at her as she slept, soon her sleepy eyes opened, and she sat up a little, concerned about why he was awake. He wasn't a good sleeper, but since they had been together, they both slept better than they had apart. Still, he had been awake, and she knew that meant there was something on his mind.

It was a month after the party and six weeks since they had arrived here with Aaron and Eric. The first few nights they had slept like the dead, but he was getting restless at night again and at least twice a week she had gotten up during the night to find him staring out the window.

"Daryl, are you ok?" She whispered to him in the darkness as she reached for him.

"Just thinking."

"Wanna let me in on it?" She rolled over to look at him. It was a moonless sky, and she could hardly see his face.

"Is it going to hurt you to take that implant out?" He said quietly. "Can Denise do it for you?"


	10. The Hook

_**Just a small update to move the story along. xxxxxKrissu**_

Because the hook brings you back  
I ain't tellin' you no lie  
The hook brings you back  
On that you can rely.

Hook by Blues Traveler

Denise removed Lisbeth's implant the next day and Maggie was there taking a pregnancy test. Life was going on and it made her smile. Lisbeth and Denise worked side by side in the infirmary and although she was a psychiatrist, Denise caught on to the concept of triage and delegation, with her new friend's help.

The two women were becoming fast friends, and from time to time Tara stopped in to see Denise, and the three of them were becoming close. Still, Lisbeth missed Lori. She always would she supposed.

Maggie was indeed pregnant and before long she was showing the smallest of bumps and it gave everyone hope. Abe took it upon himself to gather the men to spend more time with Glenn, it was quiet for the moment, with no enemies to worry about. Abe remembered his worry when his own children were born and the thought of having a child in the apocalypse was something else altogether.

As a team and a family they would all help Maggie and Glenn, because that was what they always did. Lisbeth remembered when Lori was expecting Judith and how all the women helped her and all the men kept trying to give her their meager food rations at the time. It wasn't like that now and she missed Lori. She was friendly with all the women in the group, but not like it had been with her. Lori had been her first real friend that wasn't related to the medical profession, and she felt her absence still.

Daryl watched as Lisbeth walked down the street after her shift at the infirmary. He could tell from her walk that there was something wrong, but he would wait for her to tell him. He knew already, from the way her head was down and her usual springy gait being absent, the test was negative, again.

He came down the steps and pulled her into his arms, she would cry, he knew and then he would whisper some words of encouragement to her and joke about how fun it was trying. It had been six months and Daryl could tell she was losing hope.

"Hey cookie." He tilted her chin up to him and wiped her tears with his thumbs. "It'll happen." He nodded his head to drive his point home and after a while she nodded hers as well. Daryl knew she was sad, and feeling like she was wasting supplies using the pregnancy tests they kept stashed in the infirmary. Her period had been irregular before the implant and now it was worse. She had thought she was pregnant three times.

Daryl slid his arm around her shoulder and whispered in her ear. "Rick said we have to do it more in the morning, something about..."

Lisbeth stopped him. "Does everyone know?" She said sliding her eyes to his.

Daryl shrugged. "Just Rick."

Lisbeth rolled her eyes at him as he led her onto the front porch.

"You talk to your girlfriends and I talk to Rick, he also said I need to quit smoking, it affects it somehow."

She nodded. "He's right."

"He said they had trouble getting Carl, tried for two years." The fact that there was no trouble getting Judith was hanging between them and Lisbeth knew Rick was raising another man's child. Lori had confided that to her a long time ago. She hadn't needed in vitro to conceive Judith and although it was a long shot, as a doctor Lisbeth knew Lori's words had been true.

She missed Lori so much and vowed to look after her children as if they were her own and she did just that. Lisbeth was like that crazy aunt that blew into your life and turned up the music. She was close to both Carl and Judith, even though they had another mother now. It was the last thing she could do for her friend.

Lisbeth had bonded with Denise over their shared profession and with Tara who now lived with Denise. But it wasn't the same, although she knew she should try harder, but she didn't want to lose another best friend.

"I know, Lori told me, they had in vitro, but we don't have that now." Lisbeth looked down.

"Hey, it'll happen." He said to her and reached down to take her hand. "And it will be the biggest most wonderful surprise."

"I love you." She stood on her tip toes and kissed him. "You always make me feel better."

"That's my job." He kissed her back.

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A few days later Daryl woke up before her and watched her as she slept. The sun was shining in the window and it was still quiet all over the town and the house. He liked this time of day, when there was no movement anywhere and he could just relax. It was never far from his mind how the world was, but sometimes he could enjoy moments of peace, especially with her.

He took a few minutes to study her face, which was always something he did. He knew every inch of her face, every dip and curve of her body, she was his and he was hers and a part of him still couldn't believe that.

Merle always told him to forget the past and the old society, but sometimes it creeped up on him. She was out of his league, yet there was nowhere else she'd rather be than by his side. He was a lucky man, and if they didn't have babies, then they didn't, they had each other. He would always be happy with her.

Lisbeth always slept peacefully beside him now, no more nightmares, and no more fears. As he watched her, he remembered the first time they had met and what she had intended to do. Carefully he leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her forehead, she didn't move, but in her sleep she smiled slightly, as if she was dreaming of him.

She looked so much younger, her features were soft and she was relaxed. She was on her back with one arm slung over her head and the other across her abdomen. All she wore was a tank top and sleep shorts and the covers were down around her waist, Daryl enjoyed the view.

It was peaceful, as if they weren't in the middle of the apocalypse and he had a memory as he looked at her. Lighting a young girl's cigarette outside the mall. A girl who liked the song 'Mr. Brightside' and drove an old beat up Chrysler convertible. He remembered the sky blue hair she had and the telltale red eyes of a chronic smoker of, well, the chronic.

That was her too he realized, and her sister, Lisbeth had lost everyone, and when he found her she had confessed to him about the pills she had and what she planned to do. She had changed so much. Straightened out and went to college and Medical school, and then the world ended.

Now, she was a strong woman, the woman she could have always been, but he knew he had helped her. Watching her sleep was like a look back into the past, the paths they had walked separately and the times they intersected and didn't know it.

It was fate, and she was his destiny.

Soon Lisbeth woke up and looked up at him with a smile.

"Hey." She said and reached her hand over to touch his face.

"Merle and I got a run today." He reminded her.

"I know." She said sitting up.

"I'll be back tomorrow." He reached up and touched her cheek with his hand. "I'll always come back to you."

"I know." She said and leaned down to kiss him. "You got time to say a proper…"

"Don't say it." He pulled her closer. "I'm never saying good bye to you."

Lisbeth maneuvered herself so that she was sitting on top of him and she grinned down at him.

"Oh it's like that?" He said grinning up at her and placing his hands on her hips.

"I'm going to relax about it, I promise. You don't have to quit smoking although I wish you would. But I want the morning sex, just cause I like it."

Daryl wasn't going to object, but even if he did it would have been too late, she was already sliding down on his dick before he even knew what happened.

He could live this life with her, if it ended up being the two of them or a whole car load of kids, either way he'd be happy.


	11. 105 Days

—105 days

 ** _Alright, I'm going to ask everyone to trust me with this chapter, I never write and unhappy ending, just a little angst cause, well, it's what I do. Xoxoxox Krissy_**

Lisbeth woke up at dawn in the small guest room at Maggie and Glenn's where she had been staying for the last couple of months. The sun was shining but it didn't soothe her or make her happy now. Not much did, these days but she put on a brave face for everyone and for herself.

She stretched and peered out the window at the wall up the street from her and at Eugene standing on the inner ledge with the binoculars to his face, searching, always looking. She had gotten to know him quite well and he was a good man. He lived next door to her now, with Abe, Rosita, and Sasha.

He stood there all day, every day, watching and praying, just like they all were.

Maggie was due in a few weeks and it was just as well, that she was here. She didn't want to be at their old house, it made her too sad. Now she wanted to be around people, which was different for her, but she didn't question it.

It was comforting for her to be with others the way things were now. She leaned on them and they on her as they made their way in this world.

Things had changed and new plans had to be made, even if she didn't want to. That was just the way it was.

Still she had things to be grateful for, and she accepted what had happened. She cried daily over it, but she knew it was out of her hands.

Lisbeth rubbed the tiny bump on her stomach and smiled, that was the only time she really smiled, from her heart when she thought of the baby. She had gotten pregnant that last time they were together, but Daryl and Merle never came back from that run.

They had sent out search party after search party but they were just gone.

There wasn't anything she could do about it, but she planned to go looking for him after the baby was born, she had to know for sure. She would sneak away when no one was looking, go find him or his walker and take care of it. Merle too, for Candy. One last merciful act for both of them, she had promised him she would never leave him like that.

Just the thought of it brought fresh tears to her eyes and she quickly pushed the thoughts away. She didn't have time to cry now, there was a lot to do.

Lisbeth wasn't the same now, there was a light missing from her eyes and her face, a sadness that would never go away. She would be strong though and suck it up for the sake of their child. That's what she focused on now, the child inside of her. The love she felt already for her little peanut filled her heart, and as she wrote in her journal the story of her and Daryl each night that love was transformed onto the pages.

Their son would know who he was, and what a great man he had been. She would make sure Daryl's legacy lived on.

She just knew it was a boy and she would name him after his father, the best man she had ever known. The only man she would ever love.

Lisbeth wiped her eyes and squared up herself to get out of bed, there was no crying in the apocalypse, but she did cry at night, when she was alone, writing.

The months came and went, and she was showing already and every day she walked to the gate first thing to look from the watch tower to see if anyone was coming. Eugene would always be there, he'd shake his head and hug her, every time.

It was a ritual now, but not an empty one, she still had hope that one day he would walk up to the gates again. Maybe today would be the day, she said that silent prayer to God every day, if he was even listening anymore, but it had been 105 days since they left.

She got up and started with her day, got dressed and went down stairs to see Maggie. Glenn was already on watch with Eugene, and she checked on Maggie, made sure she was drinking water and had her feet up. She had preeclampsia and needed to be off her feet.

"When can I start working again." Maggie asked as Lisbeth released the blood pressure cuff on Maggie's arm.

"As soon as your BP is down just a little more, we have to be careful, we don't have the meds."

Maggie nodded. "I know; you be careful too alright."

"I'm just going to help Denise and Tara, I'll be back at lunch time and we'll eat together ok?" Lisbeth patted Maggie on the shoulder, in the time since she had lost Daryl, Glenn and Maggie had been so kind to her. They treated her like a sister and not like an interloper in their lives.

They told her she could stay with them as long as she wanted and she was so grateful to them. Finally, she was opening up to other people, out of something so bad, came something good. Two somethings, she thought to herself as she touched her stomach again.

Lisbeth left and walked to the infirmary, where Denise and Tara were already working on the med inventory they were doing. She called to them as she came inside the door and shut it behind her.

"Sorry I'm late." She had stopped, of course and talked to Glenn and Eugene, who reported the same thing they did every day. No one was spotted and she just expected that answer now. If he could have gotten back to her, he would have. She knew that deep in her bones.

"It's alright, we figured you finally got morning sickness."

Lisbeth shook her head. "Nope. This is a boy, it's the girls that get you sick all the time." She answered. "I think Maggie's got herself a girl."

"I think you're right." Denise replied.

They talked together for a few minutes, just girls talking, like an ordinary day, they knew she was trying her best and both Tara and Denise tried very hard to keep her engaged in conversation. They kept her busy on most days and she was glad for it.

"Ok, we need to think about trying to find some Mag sulfate, in case for Maggie." Lisbeth said as they were counting the meds a few hours later, they both nodded with her. Lisbeth went out into the office and added it to the list of things they needed. So many things.

Then she walked back into the stock closet with them and quickly got to work. Time passed quickly and that was a good thing for her now. She needed to keep busy and not think, even though he was always in the back of her mind.

She thought of him every day, and didn't imagine that was going to change anytime soon.

After they had inventoried the closet they sat down and put their feet up for a minute as Denise opened up the yellow pages, of a long forgotten time.

"There's an obgyn office in that town, about 20 miles away with a clinic and a birthing center. We'll go soon."

"I wish I could." Lisbeth said, knowing the slew of big brothers she had now would never allow it.

"Oh hell no lady…" Tara started to say but they were interrupted by Eugene running down the street calling her name.

"Lisbeth where are you?" The couldn't see him but they could hear him. "Lisbeth!"

Tara got up and went to the door and yanked it open to stop his hollering. "She's here, where's the fire dude?"

"Front gate." Was all he could get out.

Lisbeth was already up and out the door before he got the words out and she didn't have to go far. She could see him walking towards her, he looked like ten pounds of pounded shit, skinny and dirty but he was alive. His eyes settled on her as he watched her come out on the porch, and went right to her stomach.

God this was a good day, after so many bad ones, he thought to himself.

She was down the stairs in a flash, her hair waving all around her face as she stood there not believing her eyes. She just stared at him as if he was a mirage.

They both broke out and ran towards each other and she was in his arms in a second, even though he was weak and tired, he lifted her up off her feet. Lisbeth was crying and running her hands all over his face and they just stared at each other for what seemed like forever.

"It's really you." She said, hugging him again so tight and moving her hands all over him, his chest, his face and in his hair. "It's really you."

Daryl pressed his forehead to hers and held her close. "Told ya I'd be back, looks like you got some news to tell me."

Lisbeth grinned. "Yeah, there's a little something we need to talk about."

He slung his arm around her shoulder. "Told ya it would happen." He said as he kissed her head. "I'm sorry I wasn't here."

"Don't be ridiculous, I know you were trying." Lisbeth kissed him softly on the mouth. "You're here now, that's all I care about."

"We got ambushed by some douchebags in DC, they took us to Rhode Island to some concentration camp thing they have going on up there." Daryl said. "Spent the last few months walking down I-95 from Providence."

"Merle?" She hugged him again. "Oh my god, Merle."

Daryl's eyes were merry then, and he was smiling.

"He went to find Candy, aint no one gonna kill Merle but Merle."

"So we got to stay out of DC?"

"Yeah man, it's a disaster and those New England people are crazy as shit house rats." He hugged her close. "They're just rounding up people and 'relocating' them, it's bad."

"No more runs for a while, ok?"

"I'm staying put, don't you worry."

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They moved her back to their old house that night and Merle and Candy moved there too. It was good to be back in their old room, together again. The house was more than big enough for all of them and they all wanted to be together, the past few months had mentally messed with all of them. Candy and Lisbeth thinking they were both dead and Merle and Daryl trying to get back to a home they didn't even know would still be there.

The bastards in DC said they were going south next and that was the way to Alexandria, thankfully, they had gone North instead, or so Daryl and Merle suspected. They had never given up hope.

Hope was a wonderful thing, a blessing and a curse.

It had kept them going though, the hope that they would be there still and they were. Life was good and would continue to be.

The four of them ate a huge meal together and said an early good night to everyone that came to visit and welcome the men back.

After a quick shower they stood together at the window looking over the streets of their home. Daryl slid his hands around her and pulled her back against his chest and breathed in her scent. He had missed her so much, and the thoughts of holding her and smelling her again was what kept him walking, when he could barely make it.

"I don't want to talk about it tonight." Daryl said and Lisbeth nodded in complete understanding.

Tomorrow he would tell her what they went through or the next day, right now he just wanted to feel her against him.

His hands made their way to her belly and he laid them across, feeling the swell of it and knowing it was his child she carried.

"I can't wait to feel it kick." He murmured into her ear.

"It's a boy, I'm pretty sure." Lisbeth replied as he kissed the back of her neck. "I've been writing to him in a journal, telling him about us, about you."

Daryl kissed the back of her head again.

"How do ya know?"

"I just do, he won't be kicking for another couple of weeks, you got back just in time." She said turning around to face him. She still couldn't believe he was really there. "Peanut, meet your daddy."

She brought his hand over her stomach and they stood there, forehead to forehead for a long time.

"I'm tired, but I need to be with you." He said softly, "Is it ok?"

Lisbeth smiled and led him towards the bed. "It's more than ok, it's necessary, pregnancy makes a woman want it all the time." She laughed. "It's safe, don't worry."

She sat down on the bed and scooted back, while he laid down and joined her.

"I'm glad you know about this stuff because I'm lost."

"Not any more baby." She kissed him sweetly and he returned the kiss with fervor. Daryl turned so they were facing each other and slung his leg over her to pull her closer. He couldn't believe he was back and he couldn't stop touching her, couldn't stop kissing her.

They stayed that way for a while, kissing and touching each other, both half afraid the other would disappear again. His touch was gentle as he ran his hands over her back, her arms and her legs, it was the sweetest torture ever and she never wanted it to end.

"I missed you so much." He said as he kissed down her neck. "Getting back to you was all I could think of."

"Please don't leave me again." She sighed, enjoying the feel of his lips on her skin after so long.

"I won't, I promise." Daryl answered and then sucked on her neck softly.

Lisbeth rolled onto her back and pulled him close to her and as his hands found her breasts she moaned low in her chest.

"Sensitive?" He asked and she nodded in the darkness of the room.

"Everything is now; you'll see soon enough."

She could see Daryl grin as he dipped his head down, and pulled her tank top up, exposing her to his hungry eyes.

"They're bigger." He said with a smile.

Soon he buried his face between her breasts kissing them softly, wanting nothing more than to savor the moment with her. To feel her and taste her skin, something that had been lacking in the past few months.

Lisbeth arched her back as he slid his fingers down into her sleep shorts and sighed as he pulled them down off of her. Then his hands were back where she needed them and his lips traced over her nipples one after the other.

He could feel her getting warmer, and her skin flushing already, she hadn't been wrong about that. Daryl smiled against her breast and reached his head up to kiss her and she was already coming.

"Oh darlin." He said rolling over between her legs and looking up at her with a devil's grin. "I'm liking this pregnancy thing a lot."

Lisbeth pulled him closer, pulling his sweat pants down until he was inside of her. This wasn't going to be one of their crazy, kinky encounters, that wasn't what they needed. This was all soft touches and worshipping each other in gratitude that they were still there, together.

After, they fell asleep in each other's arms right away and both slept through the night for the first time in 105 days.


	12. 12- The Girl at the Rock Show

_**Sorry this took so long. I have so much going on right now, but its almost over :) as always thank you for reading and I love you Krissy**_

Hanging out behind the club on the weekend,

Acting stupid getting drunk with my best friends.

I couldn't wait for the summer and the warped tour,

I remember it's the first time that I saw her there.

The Rock Show by Blink 182

Daryl had been back for a month and both he and Merle told them all about what had happened to them, eventually. It wasn't a nice story and because of it, they had posted more guards on the wall and they were all armed, even Eugene.

Although she didn't want him to, Daryl ended up going on more runs, and the one for meds for Maggie. He did stay home for a week, but then it had to be done. He and Rick went out in a truck, with Rick playing that awful music of his, the whole way there and back. Daryl felt like his ears were bleeding and Rick just laughed his ass off.

They hit the motherlode on medications though, and found everything they needed for Maggie which was a relief.

In one of the offices at the clinic Daryl found an iPhone and a charger and on impulse, he grabbed it. As he fiddled with it on the car ride home, he was happy to see there was music down loaded on it, music he knew she liked.

He charged the phone in their room and that night he surprised Lisbeth with it, dug up a pair of ear buds and gave them to her. Daryl asked her to lay down on the bed and close her eyes and she obeyed. He placed the ear buds in her ears and turned on the music.

She smiled immediately, it was Blink 182 and they both loved them. Lisbeth smiled and went to remove them, but he stopped her.

"Leave them in and close your eyes." He whispered close to her ear. "Don't take them out ok?" He kissed her lips and then down her neck with his wet mouth. "No matter what, and keep your eyes closed."

Lisbeth did as he told her to and reveled in the music that she hadn't heard since way before the turn happened. Daryl grinned at her, and watched her, as she was humming along with the music and moving her feet.

They had both been in the crowd of the concert this band did at Georgia Tech in 2001 or 2003. He couldn't remember anymore, but it was just one of many times their paths had crossed and they missed it.

But they were together now, and that was all that mattered. The baby was healthy as far as they could tell and life was good.

He marveled at the changes her body was going through and if it was possible, he was even more attracted to her than ever. He looked down at her, knowing he would love her forever and then crawled over and moved her legs apart so he could get between them.

He could hear her singing ***"Fell in love with the girl from the rock show, she said 'what?' and I told her that I didn't know." ***And he smiled bringing his lips to her stomach and kissing it, then licking her belly button. Lisbeth's eyes shot open and he caught her.

Daryl shook his head at her and mouthed 'nope' the look on his face was one she hadn't seen in a while. His eyes were dark already, and blown wide with passion and she figured so were hers.

He was in 'that mood' and she grinned. This man that at one time had trouble looking anyone in the eye liked to boss her around in bed, and she let him.

She closed her eyes and he rewarded her with a kiss on her lips. She couldn't hear him, or see him, only feel him and it was making her crazy already. The music was running through her head and his lips and tongue were all over her neck. He slid his hand over her stomach and up to her breast and sucked on her neck hard.

Lisbeth arched her back and moaned, but she kept her eyes closed.

"Good girl." He whispered into her ear and then put the ear bud right back in her ear and continued back down her neck, licking the whole way.

'What's My Age Again' was playing now and she concentrated on the music filling her ears and his touch. ***And that's about the time she walked away from me, nobody likes you when you're 23***

Lisbeth could feel his hands all over her body, he went down to the end of the bed and took one of her feet in his hands. He had already gotten out a bottle of lemongrass massage oil and now he'd worked it into his hands and rubbed it on her foot.

She was purring like a cat by the time he got to her other foot and then started on her leg. He observed her reactions and loved that it was only seven o'clock and they had all night for this. Daryl intended to drag this out for hours.

Soon she felt his oily hands on her stomach and traveling farther as his lips kissed her stomach again. He did that a lot now and it made her smile every time. Still, she kept her eyes closed as he had told her to and she had to admit it was so sexy, with the music in her ears and not seeing what he was doing.

Lisbeth skipped over 'Adam's Song' because that would be a buzzkill for sure right to 'Stay Together for the Kids' also an angsty song but she liked it. She listened as she felt him moving over her and she felt his dick hard as a rock against her leg. She would have been happy to fuck right then, but he had other plans.

**** So here's your holiday  
Hope you enjoy it this time  
You gave it all away  
It was mine  
So when you're dead and gone  
Will you remember this night  
Twenty years now lost  
It's not right.***

Slowly Daryl crept his hands over her breasts, pulled her t-shirt up and poured more oil on her skin and then he just looked at her. He remembered the concert in more detail now, he and Merle had gone and they got trashed. Lisbeth had told him she was in the mosh pit the whole night with Julie and he had been there too. Maybe they stood right next to each other? Noticed each other in the crowd?

He didn't remember her from that night, not like the memory of her at the mall. He studied her face and her lips as she whispered the words to the song. It occurred to him that he had never been happier in his whole life as he was on this night.

They met when they were supposed to, it was just fun to think about all the near misses sometimes. There had been so many of them through the years.

He rubbed the oil over her breasts, paying special attention to her nipples, which were hard already. Her body was even more responsive now and he loved it. Then leaned down and slid his tongue along one then the other, listening to the sounds she was making.

Because she had the ear buds in her ears she didn't realize how loud she was moaning and he wasn't telling her, he just grinned a devil's grin and kept going. He reached for her sleep shorts and slowly pulled them down her legs.

He followed with his hands and mouth and although he said to keep her eyes closed he didn't say she couldn't move and she was. She reached for him with 'Always' going through her ears now and her hands landed in his hair. She pulled until he was at her face again and she kissed him hard, still tugging on his hair.

*** Come on let me hold you touch you feel you  
Always  
Kiss you taste you all night  
Always****

"Daryl." She said kissing him more and more, shoving her tongue in his mouth in the sloppiest kiss they'd ever had. "Take them off." She reached for his sweat pants, pulling at the waistband and pulling his hips closer to hers.

Daryl scooted away and pulled her legs up, resting them over his shoulders and kissed her inner thighs. He looked down at her, she was the only woman he had ever done this with, the only one he ever wanted to be this intimate with.

Even though they never had a wedding ceremony, they had just put the rings on one day, they were as married as two people could be. The three months he had been away had been the worst in his life, he had been so afraid that those people would come and take her prisoner.

Never in his life had Daryl ever cared about another person the way he cared about her, maybe Merle, but this was different.

He watched her singing softly to 'Dammit' now.

****"The steps that I retrace, the sad look on your face, the timing and structure, did you hear he fucked her." ****Lisbeth sang along with the music and kept her eyes closed, but it wasn't easy. She could feel his breath on her thigh. ***"A day late a buck short, I'm writing the report."****

Daryl leaned down and adjusted her legs on his shoulders and then he was right there, and she stopped singing. He heard her intake of breath as his mouth and lips made contact with her soft flesh and he smiled.

She didn't take out the earbuds, but now she was moving against him, trying to satisfy the burning need he had brought out of her. In the past month since he had been back, they had made love every day, having a bed and a private space helped a lot, but Lisbeth knew it was because they were still feeling so grateful to be together again.

Daryl added his fingers, along with his tongue, and lips and soon Lisbeth was teetering on the edge of oblivion. He kept her there just long enough, with just enough teasing, and watched as the goose bumps broke out all over her skin.

There was a thin sheen of sweat on her skin and her head was rolling from side to side, she kept her eyes closed, like he had told her to. Then he felt it, as her hips rose off the bed and she let out a scream, not caring who could hear her.

He shucked off his sweats and crawled over her body until they were face to face again. Daryl kissed her sweetly and she took the ear buds out and disconnected them. The room was filled with 'Nirvana' now.

*****'Come on over and do the twist ahhh, over do it and have a fit ahhh."****Came through the phone. Daryl grinned, because she knew he liked this song. ***'Love you so much it makes me sick'*** Then her was inside her and she wrapped her legs around her.

"How do you want it?" He asked, meeting her eyes and bringing his lips down to her neck again, sucking hard. He held her hands over her head now and she simmered like a pot of boiling water at his touch.

"Hard." She whispered. "Fuck me like you hate me."

They both knew he would never hate her, but when she said things like that he lost his mind, and then she got what she wanted.

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Lisbeth ran into Merle in the hallway on one of her many trips to the bathroom during the night.

"Daryl Jr. giving you a hard time tonight?" He asked and she laughed as she opened the bathroom door.

"Just like his daddy I suppose." Lisbeth replied and turned towards the door.

"Hey sis?" Merle said quietly.

"Yeah." Lisbeth turned back.

"You have an enormous hickey on your neck." He said with a merry laugh and a wink.


	13. Chapter 13- i carry your heart

**_Thanks for hanging in with me with these sporadic updates, soon life will be much calmer and I'll be back to updating more. I have lots of plans for my WIPs and for some new stuff. :) Thank you for reading and please let me know what you think. xxxxxxKrissy_**

Jacob Michael Dixon came screaming into the world a month and a half early and just a few weeks after Maggie and Glen's daughter Marilyn was born. It was a hot summer day and things had been calm for a long time. Still, they guarded the walls diligently, because they were out there, the ones that kidnapped Daryl and Mere, and others like them.

Lisbeth had been in preterm labor for months and by some stroke of luck they had found a stash of terbutaline soon after Daryl and Merle returned and she prescribed it for herself. One day when she was six months pregnant, she had woken up in the middle of the night with contractions, real contractions.

They had rushed over to Tara and Denise's house and then to the infirmary where she could be treated properly.

Denise had just been about to hang a second bag of mag sulfate IV on Lisbeth and the pain stopped, they checked to see if she was dilated and she wasn't, but she was going to have to take it easy the rest of the pregnancy and take the terbutaline religiously.

That was no problem Daryl said as he stood by the gurney they had laid her on. He would make sure she abided by the rules, and he knew she would anyway. This baby was so wanted, by both parents.

She spent the rest of the pregnancy with her feet up and being waited on by her husband, secretly she was happy, that meant no runs for Daryl. Merle and Abe were teamed up now for supply runs and they had formed a very good friendship because of it.

If they hadn't had that drug, well, no one wanted to think about that.

Daryl had found a rocking chair and they kept it next to their bed along with a bassinette, but most times she would be in the rocking chair. Jacob nursed almost every hour and a half so it seemed like Lisbeth never got out of that rocking chair at all the first month.

He never got tired of watching her feed their son though, it did things to his heart. To him it seemed like a miracle, just like their whole life was now.

As he stood in the doorway in the early hours one morning her heard her talking to him. She did that often and most times he just stood and listened. He knew she still wrote in that book to, the one she had started to tell Jacob about him when he was missing. Sometimes she recited poetry to him, her own original work and mostly ee cummings.

 _I carry your heart with me (I carry it in my heart). I am never without it._

"Your Daddy and I were destined to be together, it was what you call fate, and like we were made just for each other. Your Daddy saved my life too, so that I could be your mommy now. All our lives, we passed each other so many times, maybe more than we even know about. But we've figured out a few times. I think I saw him at a gas station, when I was a little girl. I was there with your Grandpa Jake, he isn't here anymore, and your Aunt Julie, neither is she…" Daryl watched as she wiped a tear that was rolling down her cheek and then she continued. "When you're older I'll tell you why they aren't here. They'd want to be, to love you and me and Daddy. It wasn't fair, but sometimes life just isn't fair, but sometimes it's so very good." She kissed the top of Jacobs head and breathed in his fresh baby scent. "So, the gas station, I had a cherry slurpee, and Julie had a cola flavored one and I saw this boy, leaning against a truck and he had the most beautiful eyes I had ever seen…"

Daryl listened to her words and smiled, he leaned against the door jam and stared at her beautiful face as she beamed at the baby. They had never talked about her thinking she saw him when she was little, but he was pretty sure she was right about that, just like she had been about so many things.

She was the one who carried _his heart._

"I never, ever forgot those eyes Jacob, and now you have his eyes."

Daryl swallowed hard, her words were beautiful and loving and they made his heart sing in this horrible world they lived in now. She had healed his broken soul and he hers.

"Then once I bummed a light off him at the mall in Montgomery, so he says, I dunno, that summer is a blur to me, I'm sorry to say. I don't remember that. Mommy had some problems, because I missed Grandpa and Grandma was crazy as a shithouse rat." She giggled. "So I had to get high to deal with her, but Jake, I was wrong, and it never made the pain go away and it's not any kind of answer to a problem. I'll keep telling you that and I'll set a good example for you, so that you never feel so lost and alone as I did."

"Don't forget the mosh pit at Blink 182." Daryl said walking into the room. Lisbeth looked over at him and smiled.

"We didn't see each other then." She reminded him as he pulled her foot stool over and sat down on it. She handed him the baby and stretched her arms as Daryl looked down at his child.

"Still, it's a good story, don't ya thing Jake?" He smiled down as the baby drifted off to sleep.

"I want more." She said looking into his eyes. "More babies."

"What like a minivan full?" Daryl laughed and she smiled sweetly at him. "Should be careful not to get outnumbered by them."

He stood up and laid the baby down in the bassinette and pulled her over to the window. Lisbeth leaned back against his chest as he wrapped his arms around her and kissed the back of her head.

"We can have all the babies you want." He whispered to her. "You made me believe that we can have a future, that there is still a life to live besides always being on the run and afraid. No matter how long it lasts, I'll take it with both hands."

She leaned in closer to him and laid her head on his shoulder so she could see his eyes.

"I did see you, at the gas station, didn't I."

"If your father drove a midnight blue '65 Mustang, then yeah, I remember that day." Daryl answered.

"He did, until my mom made him sell it."

Daryl whistled softly. "What a buzz kill."

"Yeah, she was, so much so that I used to think I was adopted." She laughed, then she turned to him. "Kiss me, before he wakes up. If we're lucky we'll get half an hour…"

Lisbeth never got to finish the sentence because he was already kissing her and picking her up to carry her to the bed.


	14. Chapter 14

**_This chapter is dedicated_** **** ** _to my sweet friend Susanacruz0106 who never lets me forget about this story. I love you, sweetie,_** **** ** _xoxoxo._** **** ** _Thank you so much for reminding me to update._**

 **** ** _P.S. Read_** **** ** _her story, That Summer in Georgia; it_** ** _'_** ** _s one of my all-time favorites._**

For a couple who had trouble getting pregnant, Lisbeth was in for a shock shortly before Jacob turned three months old. She turned around in the bathroom with the stick in her hand and Daryl was leaning in the doorway wearing just pajama bottoms. Even with this news she couldn't help but gaze at him, his broad chest and pajamas that were half falling off of him, it was distracting her even from this. How had they found each other in this horrible world? Every day was a blessing, and she never took it for granted. But this was, well, a complete shock.

The look on her face was priceless, and he snickered a little at her.

"Daryl, it's positive." She said.

"Told ya." He grinned and walked towards her, "If I had known we were having Irish twins, we woulda had to name them Conner and Murphy."

"What?"

"Ah, it's a movie I used to like back in the day," He replied with a wave of his hand as he took her in his arms, "Irish twins are children born close together."

"Are you Irish?" She asked.

"Yeah, half." He said, "And half Native American."

"I'm Scottish, 100% I think." She muttered, "I can't believe this."

He nodded and kissed the top of her head. "I'm glad, I missed the early months last time, gonna be here this time." He hugged her tight to him, savoring the feel of her against him.

"I just got my shape back." She whined, but he knew she was joking or fishing for compliments or both, and he wasn't a stupid man. "I'm still breastfeeding Jacob."

"Love your shape, especially your breasts, all the time and I always will." He knelt down and laid his head against her stomach, brushing his lips between her sleep shorts and tank top she wore to bed. Then he looked up at her with the devil in his eyes. "He's still asleep, yeah?"

Lisbeth nodded, running her hands through his hair, he felt chills at her touch, every time. He had never been in love before her, and he always wished they had met sooner. They had crossed each other's path so many times before they actually met just after the turn.

She smiled down at him, and he was on his feet in a moment. Since the baby came, they hadn't had a lot of time to be together and had to snatch it up when it presented itself to them.

Daryl picked her up, and she wrapped her legs around his waist as he turned and started for the bed. They had just gotten up, and he couldn't wait to get her right back into their bed. The baby monitor on the bedside table was on, and even so, Jacob was just in the next room. If he cried, they would hear him and go to him, but they needed each other now. Right now.

"I figure we got ten minutes before boy wonder wakes up looking for us," Daryl drawled against the skin of her neck, biting softly. Before she knew it, she was flat on her back, and he was pulling her shirt over her head.

"That's ok; I'll take it." She raised her head up to kiss him, and brought her hands around the back of his pajamas, pulling them off. "Desperate times call for desperate measures."

"Desperate?" Daryl said, bringing his lips down to her collarbone, sucking hard and towards her chest, followed by his hands. "I wish I had time to show you desperate." He said grabbing her hands and pulling them over her head and bringing his mouth to her neck. "We ain't got time now, but when we do…"

His lips were on her breast now, and she arched her back towards him as he dipped his head lower. His mouth was hot against her skin, and she could feel his teeth as he nipped at her flesh, making his way lower.

"When we got time, I got a game we can play," Daryl said, pulling her shorts down and running his hands over her inner thighs. He looked up at her and spread her legs apart, they made eye contact for a minute and then he spoke again, "It's a real good game sweetheart."

"Good," Lisbeth gasped out in a whisper, and his lips made contact with her skin right where she wanted him. "I love your games baby."

"Right now, though, I'm going down on you like it's my day job." He grinned, running his hands up over her breasts.

Lisbeth's legs fell open, and he licked her with the flat of his tongue, then concentrated on making her cum as fast as possible. He brought his fingers down and slid one, then two inside of her, never taking his tongue from the spot she liked so much.

"Oh my god," She hissed, entirely lost in his touch, in the year or so that they had been together he had learned what buttons to push, and he pushed them with abandon every time. "God dammit." She cried, trying to be quiet as the waves rushed over her entire body, leaving her weak and boneless.

When she caught her breath, Lisbeth pulled him up to her and kissed him dirty, pushing her tongue against his wildly as she flipped them over so that she was on top of him. She stared down at him, at her husband, her lover and best friend then slowly slid down on his dick.

"Oh, that's it, baby," Daryl moaned as she pulled his hands over his head now and held them down. His eyes rolled back in his head as he felt her, so warm and wet around him. She held him down as she moved her hips around the way he liked and she could tell he was close.

"Come on baby," She moaned, moving her hips faster.

Lisbeth leaned down and kissed him, still not releasing his hands, and he struggled to get free, struggled to kiss her again. But she was just out of reach.

"Give it to me; I want it so bad." She fell forward and kissed him again, sucking his lower lip, ending up with it between her teeth before she pulled herself away again, leaving him wanting so much more.

"I'm gonna give it to you." Daryl groaned, moving the only part of his body that he could, his hips against hers. He was breaking out in a sweat, and being held down by her was new and something he never thought he would like, but he did. He could barely talk as the words spilled out of his mouth in gasps. "I'm gonna give it to you so good."

The headboard was banging against the wall, and Daryl was panting and moaning without abandon as she slid against him and finally released his arms. They were around her without delay, and he moved around to get on top of her. Daryl watched as her hands slid over her breasts and that was his undoing. He couldn't take his eyes off of her, she grinned up at him and then she reached down between them, sliding her fingers between them until he could feel her body contracting all around him.

"Oh fuck yes," He cried into her shoulder, "Fuck yes."

Daryl's body shook with aftershocks as he collapsed on top of her, they were still and quiet, there was no noise from the monitor. He pulled the blanket over them and laid down next to her.

"Fuck me Lisbeth that was incredible." He said kissing the side of her head. "Love you, sweetheart."

"I love you." She murmured as his hand slid down over her stomach and rested there.

"This one, I hope it's a girl, and I hope she looks just like you."


	15. Chapter 15

Thank you to everyone who hung in there with me and this story. It was a smutty one shot that got out of control, and I know I don't always update regularly, but SCHOOL is over so now it's on! I have two WIPs to finish and a bunch of unfinished stuff chilling in my documents. You all are going to be sick of me.

Daryl came down the stairs with Allison in the back pack carrier on his back and Jake on his hip and went right for the kitchen. He carried on a whole conversation with both of his children as they made their way through the house. This was nothing new and at their young ages they didn't talk back yet, just babbled and cooed, but he still talked to them constantly.

"We're just gonna leave Mommy a note and then we are outta here," He said placing a kiss on each child's head

On the counter next to a bowel of fruit there was a note book where he and Lisbeth would leave notes for each other and he scribbled a quick note to her.

It was a beautiful sunny day and he was taking his kids out, although they weren't going very far. He looked down at her familiar writing, she had left him a note that morning that he hadn't yet seen.

~~~~~~"I'll be at the clinic till five, do you want the stew for dinner? I love you, baby."

~~~~~~"Stew is fine, I'll put it in the crock pot before I go, the kids and I are at Rick's, come over when you get home, love you mad sweetheart."

The pages of the notebook were covered with notes like this and she saved them all. Lisbeth kept them all in a trunk in their room, to read through sometimes when she needed to feel grateful if she got sad about her family not being there.

This was her family now, Daryl and the kids and their friends in this society they all had made, but still, she missed her sister.

The notebooks reminded her of how far they had come together too, gone were the days where he cursed her out, like when they had first met in Atlanta. He had taken her hand at the CDC and said, "You're with me."

And so she was with him, all her life.

/

"I'll love you forever you know, even after I'm dead and gone," Lisbeth said as they sat together on the balcony off the bedroom they shared. Their feet hung down as they sat holding the railing and talking together while the children slept.

It was quiet now and their favorite time to be together. They would talk about all manner of things and never tired of hearing the other's voice. During one of these nightly talks, they had discovered two more times in their past that fate tried to introduce them to each other.

Lisbeth's mother had her car repaired at the garage that Merle and later Daryl would work at before the turn. It was very likely that Lisbeth's mother knew both Merle and Daryl or at least had seen them.

Lisbeth was already away at college at that time, but one time she did pull up in front of the place to pick her mother up when her car had broken down. She never went inside and he had never come outside, the time had not been right. They wouldn't meet for many years, not a true meeting at least, but they had met, face to face and didn't remember each other. They discovered that fact, during one of their talks and it was spooky.

One summer, at the local lake, Daryl had been a life guard and he had been nineteen that year. Lisbeth had been thirteen and worked on the other side of the lake doing arts and crafts with the younger kids in the camps that were run every summer there.

Somewhere, long forgotten existed a picture of the group of kids that worked there that summer, there had been thirty altogether, each in different areas. In the back, row stood Daryl with the other lifeguards in their red swim trunks.

In the front row sat Lisbeth and his and the other girls who worked with the younger kids.

Each of them could recall the day the picture was taken, clearly, they had met each other on some level, maybe nodded to each other as they passed on the way to the snack bar. But never knew who the other was, or what they would mean to each other when the world ended.

"I'll love you the same," He said as he took her hand and kissed her palm, "You saved me."

"And you saved me, from the very first day." She replied.

"You make it sound like a damn romance novel," Daryl mused as he looked out over the neighborhood where they lived and lit a cigarette. It had been so many years now, that they all lived in Alexandria and they were safe.

"For me, it is," She said squeezing his hand, they had been together seven years now and had two children, a boy Jake and a girl, Allison, both born almost in the same year.

"I'm just in it for the sex," Daryl said quirking his eye brow at her.

She stood up faster than he expected and then she was smiling down at him, "Put your money where your mouth is mister."

Lisbeth reached down and touched his face as he stood up and took her into his strong arms, her favorite place to be.

"Take me to bed," She whispered.

/

Daryl rolled over, gazed into her eyes briefly then pulled her by the arm until she was on her stomach in a flash. He pulled her hips back rough and entered her deep, letting a grin slide over his face when she grunted a little too loudly.

They had sleeping kids in the other hall way; they wouldn't hear, maybe sleeping Merle and Candy next door might hear something but Daryl could give fuck all right at the moment. He was throwing his woman around the bed the way she liked it and nothing was going to stop him.

"God dammit baby," He leaned down and whispered darkly in her ear, "Come on, stop holding out on me."

"I'm not..." She panted but with a mischievous lilt to her voice that she knew he loved. She could feel the sweat from his hair dripping down her back and it made her weak for him.

"You're right," He moaned, sliding his fingers between her legs just the way she liked, "You ain't."

He went in for the kill, bringing one hand to her breast, teasing her with his fingers and the other hand worked her over between her legs until she fell apart. He followed soon after her pulling her hard against himself and burying his face in her hair as his orgasm rocked his body from head to toe.

He pulled the quilt over them and snuggled up against her and they fell into a contented sleep

/

Jake and Allison, were practically Irish twins, that is, two babies born in the same year, and this year they were fifty-five and fifty-four respectively. They stood at the wall together, where the names were written, the names of the dead and the people who fought to make Alexandria what it was now.

Their parent's names were there, Daryl and Lisbeth, as well as all the names of the early survivors, who made this place what it became. Often, when they came here with their families they would touch the written names on the wall and remember the fight their parents fought for them to be safe.

Merle and Candy's names were next to Daryl and Lisbeth's, but they had never had children. That never stopped them from spoiling Allison and Jake though and they all lived together for many years in the same house.

Jake and Allison honored their Aunt and Uncle as they did their parents, they honored everyone who's name was on the wall.

Carl and Judith stood nearby, by the place where Rick's name was, and Micchone's and further down the wall, Herschel Rhee and his sister Beth placed flowers under the names of their parents as well.

For many years the one's that came before this generation that stood there now built this place, and their children and their grand children were safe now.

The virus was almost eradicated, thanks to the hard work of Eugene Porter and Denise Cloyd in the early years.

Their names were there too, in a place of honor. They had stopped it cold, and although there would always be the threat from rogue groups of people, once the cure arrived, society calmed down considerably.

Soon the different communities learned to all work together and persecution and violence were almost nonexistent now.

But there were battles and lives lost but the names on this wall were not lost in battle, but in old age, as it always should have been.

The descendants stopped here on special days and today was a most special day. It was the anniversary of the day their parents walked up to the wall of Alexandria and to the safety, they found there behind its gate. It was a founder's day of sorts, and one they honored every year.

No one had ever figured out how to take a picture though and there had never been anyone artistic enough to paint any either. There were no pictures of anyone.

The only picture of Daryl and Lisbeth together was probably still in the lodge at the lake in Georgia hanging on the wall from a summer long forgotten.

"I don't remember what she looked like anymore," Allison said as her brother's wife Carly took her place next to him, followed by their daughter, Lori, named after their mother's best friend who they never knew.

"Its been so long," Carly answered, "But we have the notes that they used to write to each other, we have that at least."

"Some people don't even have that or the peace of knowing their parents were happy and loved each other until the end," Allison answered.

"He died two weeks after she did," Jake said turning to his sister, "Can you imagine?"

"Yeah," Allison replied looking over at her own husband, Carl Grimes, and he grinned at her, "I can imagine it all."

The end


End file.
